Relation between the production of deoxynivalenol and zearalenone and the mycelial growth of Fusarium graminearum on solid natural substrates

: A toxicogenic strain of Fusarium graminearum which produces DON and ZEA was cultivated on natural solid substrates (wheat, polished rice and hulled rice) under different environmental conditions. The production of both toxins and mycelium growth (in terms of glucosamine) were evaluated to establish the relation between the production of DON and ZEA and the different mycelium growth on the substrates mentioned above. Polished rice was the substrate on which most production of both toxins was obtained. Comparing the three substrates studied, the highest quantities of DON were obtained at a temperature of 27 degrees C during incubation period, being indifferent to the presence of light except in the case of hulled rice. Whereas for ZEA the best conditions in wheat and polished rice were medium temperatures (17 degrees-21 degrees C respectively) and darkness. While in hulled rice the ideal conditions for the production of both toxins were temperature of 27 degrees C and the presence of light. Concerning the mycelium growth, this was very scarce when cultivated in hulled rice, increasing in polished rice and being largest in wheat. The increase or reduction of the mycelium growth in the different substrates was not proportional to the increase or decrease of the production of both toxins. Therefore, production of DON and ZEA could be subjected to the nature of the substrate and environmental conditions, more than the rate of development of Fusarium graminearum in cereal grains.