Toxicity and Occurrence of Fusarium species and Mycotoxins in Late Harvested and Overwintered Grain from Norway, 1993

Samples of grain, harvested in October/November of 1993 or in the spring of 1994 from fields in Norway with overwintered grain, were collected. The presence of Fusarium species and the atnount of tnycotoxitts produced by this genus were determined. The cytotoxic properties of the grain samples were exatnined with an in vitro methylthiazoltetrazolium (MTT)-cell culture assay using swine kidtiey atid VERO cells as target cells. The total coutit of colony formitig tinits of Fusarium species was about the same in the grain harvested in late autumti and in the spring, but the dominant species seetned to vary sotnewhat between the two groups. F. culmorum was found more in the samples from October/November while F. avenaeeum was isolated tnore in the grain harvested in the spring. Only stnall amounts of F. sporoirichioides were presetit in the grain harvested in the autumn, and none was found in the overwintered grain. The deoxynivalenol content was significantly higher in the grain harvested in autumn than in the overwintered grain. Although very small amounts of toxins were detected in the overwintered grain, it was more cytotoxic than the grain harvested in October/November. A significant correlation between the cytotoxicity and the amount of F. avenaeeum in the samples was found