Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) Crop Development Centre (CDC) have developed a fast and accurate method for identifying and quantifying toxins in fusarium-infected cereal grain.
Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan (USask) Crop Development Centre (CDC) have developed a fast and accurate method for identifying and quantifying toxins in fusarium-infected cereal grain, an innovation that could reduce toxins that are harmful to both animals and humans.
Fusarium head blight (FHB), a fungal disease affecting kernel development, causes millions of dollars in annual losses in Canadian cereal crops such as barley, wheat and oats.
With warming weather patterns and more intensive farming practices, fusarium has been spreading across the Prairie provinces. The infected grain is often both lower in quality and kernel weight, and may be unsuitable for human and animal consumption.
That’s because the fusarium infection process produces mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol (DON), which in severe cases can reduce the market value of a crop to zero. Animals consuming feed containing high levels of DON may have reduced growth, as well as reduced fertility and reduced immune response. In worst cases, the toxins can lead to death of the animal. There can also be long-term impacts on human health from consuming mycotoxins in food.
Continue reading at University of Saskatchewan.
Image via Praveen Sapkota.
