Fusariotoxins in wheat grain in Serbia.

Samples of wheat grain (41), collected during the 2010 harvest from seven localities in Serbia, were analyzed for the presence of zearalenone (ZEA), T-2 toxin, deoxynivalenol (DON) and fumonisine B1 (FB1). Results of Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) showed that all analysed samples were positive for the presence of at least one of four observed fusariotoxins. The most distributed mycotoxins were ZEA (90.2%, with the average concentration of 442.6μg kg-1) and T-2 (90.2%, with the average concentration of 24.2 μg kg-1). DON (73.2%) and FB1 (84.4%) were detected in a somewhat smaller number of samples, but their average concentrations were higher (1988.1 μg DON kg-1 and 882.7 μg FB1 kg-1). The established correlations between concentrations of DON and FB1 (r = 0.32) or DON and ZEA (r = 0.22) were not statistically significant. A negative correlation was established between concentrations of T-2 and FB1 (r= -0.24), as well as, between T-2 and DON (r = -0.36). Detected concentrations of ZEA and T-2 were bellow the level prescribed by the World Health Organisation (WHO), while concentrations of FB1 and DON detected in five that is, 17 samples, respectively, were above the permissible limit for human consumption.