Mycotoxins in barley and oat samples from eastern Canada

In Eastern Canada Fusarium species infect barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and o ats (Avena sativa L.) more frequently than wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), ye t information on mycotoxin contamination in barley and oats is lacking. Suc h information is essential to determine the need for control of fusarium he ad blight in barley and oats. Therefore, data were retrieved from the Mycot oxin Databank of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to study mycotoxin con tamination in Eastern Canada's barley and oats. Of the 116 barley samples c ollected from 1991 to 1998 crops, 84 (72%) were contaminated with deoxyniva lenol (DON). Some samples contained up to 8-9 mg kg(-1) of DON. DON contami nation was particularly severe in recent years (1996, 1997, and 1998). DON contamination was less frequent and less severe in oats in comparison with barley. Only 34 of the 73 oat samples (47%) contained DON. Thirty-four perc ent of the barley samples (18/53) and 15% of the oat samples (4/26) contain ed nivalenol. Zearalenone, ochratoxin A, 3-acetyl DON, 15- acetyl DON, and T-2 were also detected at a law frequency; but HT-2, diacetoxyscirpenol (DA S), fusarenon X, 15-acetoxyscirpenol, and neosolaniol were not detected in these samples. The results suggest that breeding barley for resistance to D ON accumulation is warranted in Eastern Canada.