The Impact of Harvesting Time on <i>Fusarium</i> Mycotoxins in Spring Wheat Grain and Their Interaction with Grain Quality
Yuliia Kochiieru,
Audronė Mankevičienė,
Jurgita Cesevičienė,
Roma Semaškienė,
Jūratė Ramanauskienė,
Andrii Gorash,
Sigita Janavičienė,
Eimantas Venslovas
Affiliations
Yuliia Kochiieru
Department of Plant Pathology and Protection, Institute of Agriculture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Instituto al. 1, Akademija, LT-58344 Kėdainiai distr., Lithuania
Audronė Mankevičienė
Department of Plant Pathology and Protection, Institute of Agriculture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Instituto al. 1, Akademija, LT-58344 Kėdainiai distr., Lithuania
Jurgita Cesevičienė
Chemical Research Laboratory, Institute of Agriculture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Instituto al. 1, Akademija, LT-58344 Kėdainiai distr., Lithuania
Roma Semaškienė
Department of Plant Pathology and Protection, Institute of Agriculture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Instituto al. 1, Akademija, LT-58344 Kėdainiai distr., Lithuania
Jūratė Ramanauskienė
Department of Plant Pathology and Protection, Institute of Agriculture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Instituto al. 1, Akademija, LT-58344 Kėdainiai distr., Lithuania
Andrii Gorash
Department of Cereal Breeding, Institute of Agriculture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Instituto al. 1, Akademija, LT-58344 Kėdainiai distr., Lithuania
Sigita Janavičienė
Department of Plant Pathology and Protection, Institute of Agriculture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Instituto al. 1, Akademija, LT-58344 Kėdainiai distr., Lithuania
Eimantas Venslovas
Department of Plant Pathology and Protection, Institute of Agriculture, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Instituto al. 1, Akademija, LT-58344 Kėdainiai distr., Lithuania
In this work, we studied the impact of harvesting time on Fusarium mycotoxin occurrence in spring wheat and the effect of mycotoxin contamination on the quality of these grains. The spring wheat grains (Triticum aestivum L.) were collected in 2016–2018 when the crop had reached full maturity, 10 ± 2 days and 17 ± 3 days after full maturity. The grain samples were analyzed for Fusarium infection and co-contamination with mycotoxins deoxynivalenol (DON), zearalenone (ZEA), and T-2 toxin (T-2), as well as the quality of the wheat grains (mass per hectolitre, contents of protein, starch, ash and fat, particle size index (PSI), falling number, sedimentation, wet gluten content, and gluten index). The occurrence of Fusarium spp. fungi and the mycotoxins produced by them in the grains was mostly influenced by the harvesting time and meteorological conditions. The correlations between Fusarium species and the mycotoxins produced by them in the grains of spring wheat showed F. graminearum to be a dominant species, and as a result, higher concentrations of DON and ZEA were determined. The co-occurrence of all the three mycotoxins analyzed (deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, and T-2 toxin) was identified in wheat. In rainy years, a delay in harvesting resulted in diminished grain quality of spring wheat, as indicated by grain mass per hectolitre and falling number. Negative correlations were found in highly contaminated grains between mycotoxins (DON, ZEA, and T-2) and falling number and grain mass per hectolitre values.
