Relationship between Fusarium infestation of Barley and the gushing potential of

Abstract

Fifty barley samples, displaying a range of 0 to 100% kernels infested with Fusarium, were collected in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota during the harvest of 1994. Samples were micromalted, and the levels of the fungal metabolites, deoxynivalenol and ergosterol, were determined. Fusarium infestation and the levels of fungal metabolites were evaluated as predictors of gushing in laboratory trials. Malt samples which were infested with Fusarium or contaminated with the fungal metabolites exhibited a propensity to gush. However, only the levels of deoxynivalenol and ergosterol were found to be strongly correlated with the actual amount of gushing observed. This suggests that their production may parallel that of the component which actual causes gushing, and that screening barley and malt for these metabolites, may offer a means of reducing gushing problems in the brewery. Determination of deoxynivalenol is rapid, when it is present, and necessary because of food safety and malt quality concerns.