Mycotoxins in barley and oat samples from eastern Canada

Abstract

In Eastern Canada Fusarium species infect barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and oats (Avena sativa L.) more frequently than wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), yet information on mycotoxin contamination in barley and oats is lacking. Such information is essential to determine the need for control of fusarium head blight in barley and oats. Therefore, data were retrieved from the Mycotoxin Databank of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to study mycotoxin contamination in Eastern Canada's barley and oats. Of the 116 barley samples collected from 1991 to 1998 crops, 84 (72%) were contaminated with deoxynivalenol (DON). Some samples contained up to 8-9 mg kg-1 of DON. DON contamination was particularly severe in recent years (1996, 1997, and 1998). DON contamination was less frequent and less severe in oats in comparison with barley. Only 34 of the 73 oat samples (47%) contained DON. Thirty-four percent of the barley samples (18/53) and 15% of the oat samples (4/26) contained nivalenol. Zearalenone, ochratoxin A, 3-acetyl DON, 15- acetyl DON, and T-2 were also detected at a low frequency; but HT-2, diacetoxyscirpenol (DAS), fusarenon X, 15-acetoxyscirpenol, and neosolaniol were not detected in these samples. The results suggest that breeding barley for resistance to DON accumulation is warranted in Eastern Canada.