Distribution of trichothecenes, zearalenone, and ergosterol in a fractionated wheat harvest lot

To investigate possible co-occurrences of type B trichothecenes and zearalenone within a Fusarium culmorum-infected wheat harvest lot, kernels were fractionated into six groups by visual criteria. The Fusarium-damaged kernels were subdivided into white, shrunken, and red kernel groups, and the remaining kernels were sorted into healthy, black spotted, and nonspecific groups. The distribution patterns of nivalenol, deoxynivalenol, zearalenone, and ergosterol were determined for possible correlations. Significant correlations between the distribution patterns were found for the mycotoxins and ergosterol for the grouped kernels (r = 0.997-0.999, p < 0.0001). Additionally, remarkably outstanding levels of nivalenol (24-fold more than the mean at 1.16 mg/kg), deoxynivalenol (27-fold more than the mean at 0.16 mg/kg), zearalenone (25-fold more than the mean at 77 microg/kg), and ergosterol (17-fold more than the mean at 13.4 mg/kg) were found in the red kernel group. Further, detailed mycotoxin and ergosterol analyses were carried out on various segments (kernel surface, conidia, bran, and flour) of the red kernels. However, the mycotoxin and ergosterol distribution profiles revealed nonsignificant correlations for these kernel segments, with the exception of deoxynivalenol and nivalenol, which were moderately correlated (r = 0.948, p = 0.035).     

Movement of suspended matter and a bromide tracer to field drains in tilled and untilled soil

Abstract. Drainage water was sampled intensively during a four-year field experiment on a sandy loam soil subjected to four unreplicated tillage treatments: (1) harrowing with a springtine harrow, drilling; (2) direct drilling; (3) ploughing with light subsurface compaction, one pass with a PTO-driven rotary harrow, drilling; (4) ploughing, one pass with a springtine harrow, drilling. In all years, the losses of suspended matter with drainage water (0.1–4.3 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) were smaller by a factor of 1.9 or more from direct drilled plots than from plots subjected to the other tillage treatments, strongly suggesting that tillage increased the losses. Annual bromide losses were governed by the amount of drainage water rather than by the tillage treatments. However, after one drainage season, more bromide was left in the soil at 0–100 cm depth with ploughless tillage than with ploughing, thus indicating more bypass flow without ploughing. The study demonstrated very changeable patterns of suspended matter and bromide concentrations in drainage water sampled from large field plots, and questions the representativeness of drainage water samples for water reaching the subsoil or shallow groundwater.