Deoxynivalenol Distribution in Flour and Bran of Spring Wheat Lines with Different Levels of Fusarium Head Blight Resistance

Abstract

The level of the fungal toxin deoxynivalenol (DON) in milled flour and its partitioning between flour and bran of 15 spring wheat (Triticum aestivum) lines with different levels of Fusarium head blight (FHB; mainly caused by Fusarium graminearum) resistance was investigated in Hokkaido, Japan between 2004 and 2007. The DON levels in flour (DON_f) and bran (DON_b) showed positive linear relationships with DON levels in whole kernels (DON_k) (R² = 0.94, n = 60, P ≤ 0.01 and R² = 0.93, n = 60, P ≤ 0.01, respectively). Results indicated that the DON partitioning ratio between flour and bran is primarily related to the level of DON_k, and the DON level was approximately doubled in DON_b and halved in DON_f for any level of DON_k. Only one pattern of DON partitioning supported the conventional strategy to select FHB-resistant lines.