Variation in the production of trichothecene mycotoxin deoxynivalenol (DON) in spring barley varieties after treatment with the fungicides azoxystrobin and tebuconazole

Abstract

Eight varieties of spring barley (Hordeum vulgaris Lin.) were artificially inoculated with a Fusarium culmorum (W.G. Smith) Saccardo - isolate and naturally infected in the middle of the flowering period, and 2 d later treated with the fungicides azoxystrobin or tebuconazol at a dose of 1 l/ha in 250 l of water. In both control and treated samples of grain the content of deoxynivalenol (DON), the main trichothecene mycotoxin produced by F. culmorum, was determined by gas chromatography (GC-ECD). The treatment with either fungicide resulted in elevated levels of DON, an effect that was more pronounced with azoxystrobin.

Keywords

• deoxynivalenol
• fusarium culmorum
• azoxystrobin
• tebuconazole