Effect of different intensities of Fusarium infestation on grain yield, deoxynivalenol content and baking quality of winter wheat.

The effects of different infection grades of Fusarium spp. on grain yield, deoxynivalenol (DON) content and baking quality of winter wheat were evaluated in 3 wheat cultivars (Akteur, Eurofit and Meritto) during the 3 years field trials (2008 - 2010), where different ways of artificial inoculation and protective fungicidal treatment (8 variants) were used to obtain a scale of wheat samples with different levels of Fusarium spp. infection (determined using the PCR assay). Inoculated variants with the highest Fusarisum infection grade also reached the highest DON content (determined using the method based on UPLC-TOF MS system) and exceeded considerably the limit of DON content for the food grain (1250 μg.kg -1 ). Significant differences in the grain yield were estimated between the inoculated variants and the check variant. Effect of fungicidal treatment against Fusarium spp. was positive and led to decrease of DON content and increase of the grain yield. Although the crude protein content and wet gluten content were not significantly affected by the Fusarium spp. infection, ZS (Zeleny sedimentation) and FN (falling number) showed distinctively decreased values in the inoculated variants. Increasing intensity of Fusarium spp. infection evidently worsened the rheological quality, evaluated using the Mixolab system and a negative effect on protein and mainly on the starch part of the grain was obvious from Mixolab characteristics. High correlations were found between Mixolab characteristics and standard technological quality parameters, as well as between Mixolab characteristics and the main baking criterion – loaf volume of bread. Protective fungicidal treatment had a positive effect and led to improved values of most evaluated baking quality parameters.