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Concentrations of Some Metabolites Produced by Fungi of the Genus Fusarium and Selected Elements in Spring Spelt Grain

¹Department of Plant Breeding and Seed Production, University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, pl. Łódzki 3, 10-727 Olsztyn, Poland. ²Center for Analytical Chemistry, Department for Agrobiotechnology, IFA-Tulln, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences in Vienna, Konrad-Lorenz-Str. 20, 3430 Tulln, Austria. ³Corresponding author. Phone: +43-2272-66280-408. Fax: +43-2272-66280-403. E-mail: wolfgang.kandler@boku.ac.at ⁴Department of Chemistry, Poznań University of Life Sciences, ul. Wojska Polskiego 75, 60-625 Poznań, Poland.

The aim of this study was to determine the content of selected elements and metabolites produced by fungi of the genus Fusarium in spelt (Triticum spelta L.) grain and husks and common wheat (T. aestivum L.) grain. Concentrations of trichothecenes, a volatile metabolite trichodiene (TRICH), as well as ergosterol (ERG) and adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP) (a total microbial biomass indicator), were assessed. Toxin concentrations in spelt grain and husks harvested in 2003 and 2004 were comparable. Average deoxynivalenol concentrations reached 450 and 523 μg/kg in grain and 2,162 and 855 μg/kg in husks, respectively. Spelt grain, in comparison with common wheat grain, contained significantly higher concentrations of P, S, Mg, Zn, and Cu and a lower concentration of Al, whereas the concentrations of Ca, Fe, and Pb were significantly higher in the husks than in the grain of this cereal. A comparison of concentrations of Fusarium spp. metabolites in the grain of spelt and common wheat showed that the total concentration of mycotoxins and TRICH was slightly lower in T. spelta, whereas common wheat grain contained lower concentrations of ERG and ATP. The obtained results indicate that spelt husks contain considerable concentrations of trichothecenes.