Simultaneous occurrence of deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, and aflatoxin in 1982 scabby wheat from the midwestern United States

Abstract

Thirty-three samples of wheat of the 1982 crop year from Kansas and Nebraska were analyzed for deoxynivalenol, T-2 toxin, zearalenone, and aflatoxin. Deoxynivalenol was identified in 31 of 33 samples, zearalenone was identified in 3 of 33 samples, and aflatoxin B1 was identified in 23 of 31 samples. One 1982 wheat sample from Illinois and one from Texas were also contaminated with deoxynivalenol at 1,200 and 600 ng/g, respectively. None of the samples contained detectable T-2 toxin. The mean concentration of deoxynivalenol was 1,782 ± 262 ng/g, and the concentrations of aflatoxin B1 ranged from 0.8 to 17.0 ng/g, with a mean of 3.37 ± 0.7. Zearalenone concentrations of the three positive samples were 35, 90, and 115 ng/g. However, density segregation of two other samples which tested negative yielded light fractions, comprising <2% of the samples, contaminated at 230 and 254 ng of zearalenone per g; calculated zearalenone concentrations for these two samples were below the limit of detection of the method. The high frequency of aflatoxin B1 and deoxynivalenol in wheat from the 1982 crop is unprecedented, as is the simultaneous contamination of some samples with deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, and aflatoxin B1.

Current views on the occurrence and significance of Fusarium toxins

“…Extensive data are available on the natural occurrence of DON world-wide although (Hagler et al 1984), as has maize both there and in South Africa (Marasas et al 1979). Japanese barley and wheat flour have been found to contain DON together with nivalenol (Tanaka et al 1985).…”

Natural occurrence of Fusarium mycotoxins in field samples from the 1992 Wisconsin corn crop

“…We found frequent contamination with toxic fusaria as well as with various fusarium mycotoxins in the 1992 corn crop. In contrast to the usual case in nature in which F. graminearum is more prevalent and its metabolites, such as DON and related toxins, are more common than T-2 toxin (14,16,28,30,33,40), mycological analysis of the 1992 Wisconsin moldy corn revealed that a large population of F. sporotrichioides was also present. The 1992-1993 moldy corn pandemic was probably locally more severe than problems that developed in the 1962-1963 corn crops, but in both incidents, we often found F. sporotrichioides in abundance in samples (35).…”

“…DON and ZE have been found to be produced by F. graminearum simultaneously (13,14,17,19,24). With the availability of data on the natural occurrence of TCTC mycotoxins in corn crops, the relationship between the production of total type B TCTCs and the production of ZE was tested with the Prism computer program in the present study.…”

Effect of deoxynivalenol (vomitoxin) on fertility, pregnancy, and postnatal development of Sprague-Dawley rats

“…Extensive scab or head blight occurred in Canadian and U.S. wheat in 1980, 1981, and 1982. Zearalenone is often found in samples that contain DON (2,5,6,10,13).…”