Abstract
Agroecological and climatic conditions in Serbia greatly affected the development of toxigenic fungi and occurrence of mycotoxins in the maize. The presence of fungal toxigenic Aspergillus and Fusarium species and levels of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and sum of fumonisins B1, B2 and B3 (FBs) were established in 127 maize kernel samples harvested during 2012 (37 samples) and 2013 (90 samples). The periods of silking and grain filling of the maize in 2012 in comparison to 2013 were characterised with extremely dry spells, with high temperatures and low precipitation sums. The mean incidences of A. flavus and F. verticillioides were 50.4 and 11.7% in 2012 and 18.9 and 33.4% in 2013, respectively. According to the regulations of the World Health Organisation, unacceptable levels of AFB1 (>20 ?g kg-1) and FBs (>2000 ?g kg-1) were established in the 30.6 and 24.1% samples of 2012 and 16.7 and 40% maize kernel samples of 2013, respectively. It can be concluded that high temperatures and low precipitation sums in 2012 favoured the development of A. flavus affecting the high level of AFB1 , in comparison with F. verticillioides and the production of FBs. There was no positive correlation between the incidences of A. flavus and F. verticillioides, while a statistically significant positive correlation has been found between AFB1 and FBs levels, in both investigated years (2012-2013). This indicates that the mycotoxin production depended more on weather conditions than on the distribution of corresponding toxigenic fungal species.
Highlights
The variability of climatic conditions together with global climate changes contributes to higher biosynthesis of mycotoxins in maize, which causes economic losses in the production and risk for human and animal health
Taking into account that agroecological conditions in Serbia are favourable for the development of toxigenic species of the genus Fusarium, and in some years even species of the genus Aspergillus, the aim of this study was to determine the impact of climatic factors on the incidence of fungal toxigenic Aspergillus and Fusarium species and the level of their mycotoxins, aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) and FBs
In 2012, A. flavus and F. verticillioides were isolated in the range of 6.6-95.5%, and 0-44.4%, respectively
Summary
The variability of climatic conditions together with global climate changes contributes to higher biosynthesis of mycotoxins in maize, which causes economic losses in the production and risk for human and animal health. Aflatoxins are secondary metabolites of fungi Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus, while fumonisins are produced by species Fusarium verticillioides and Fusarium proliferatum (Abbas et al, 2002). Increased temperatures and drought stress are the principal factors causing high levels of aflatoxins in maize. It is considered that night-time temperatures are more important for the growth of mycotoxin producing fungi, because the energy balance of the plant is negative during the night and its ability to defend itself is lower (Abbas et al, 2002, 2006). Drought, extremely high temperatures, insect damages and water activity (aw) are the main factors causing the risk of the Fusarium infection and later fumonisin contamination in maize kernels. Maize contamination with fumonisin-producing Fusarium species depends on the geographical area and agroecological conditions (Medina et al, 2015)
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