Presence of deoxynivalenol in Australian wheat and triticale dash New South Wales Northern Rivers region, 1983

Abstract

Of 12 wheat samples from crops affected by head blight (caused by Fusarium graminearum) at harvest in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales in November 1983, 11 contained up to 6.7 mg kg-1 (mean 1.8 mg kg-1) of the trichothecene mycotoxin, deoxynivalenol (DON, also known as vomitoxin). Grain feeds responsible for feed refusal and vomiting in a piggery in the region were found to contain up to 3.7 mg kg-1 of the toxin. Two triticale samples contained 9 and 11mg kg-1 of DON, but 2 barley samples were negative. A wide range of other wheat samples, principally representative of the New South Wales dryland wheat belt, were all, with 1 exception. found free of DON. Since DON can be produced in times of wet harvest, maximum limits for contamination of grains are recommended.