Fungal diversity and natural occurrence of fusaproliferin, beauvericin, deoxynivalenol and nivalenol in wheat cultivated in Santa Fe Province, Argentina.

The Fusarium diversity and the mycobiota associated with moldy wheat kernels from Santa Fe province, Argentine, was assessed. The wheat cultivated area in Santa Fe province is divided according to agrometeorological conditions into two zones: Zone I (north-central) and Zone II (south). The natural occurrence of Fusarium toxins BEA, FUP, DON and NIV was also determined. Cladosporium was the most abundant of the 19 genera identified, followed by Fusarium, Phoma and Alternaria. Zone II shows a predominance of F. graminearum and F. culmorum. In Zone I, DON was present in 13/32 samples (range 0.43-3.60 mg kg(-1)) and NIV in 6/32 samples (range 0.11-0.40 mg kg(-1)). In zone II, DON was found in 11/21 samples (range 0.57-9.50 mg kg(-1)) and NIV in 4/21 samples (range 0.10-0.60 mg kg(-1)). BEA and FP were not detected in both zones.