The impact of seasonal weather variation on mycotoxins: maize crop in 2014 in northern Italy as a case study

Abstract

The occurrence of mycotoxins differs greatly from year to year and this variation has been attributed to climate variability. The aim of this study was to consider the variability of fungal infection and mycotoxin contamination on a small geographic scale as a possible result of local weather conditions. The presence of Fusarium spp. and Aspergillus spp. and their related mycotoxins was investigated in 51 maize fields grown in 2014 in the Emilia Romagna region, in northern Italy; information regarding the cropping system was collected for all the fields. Samples collected at harvest were analysed for fumonisins, aflatoxins and trichothecenes. Hourly meteorological data were collected from nine stations and fields were clustered with the stations based on the shortest distance principle. Fusarium spp. and Aspergillus spp. incidence varied between 17.6-46.0% and 0.6-6.3%, respectively. Fumonisins ranged between 1,718 and 106,054 μg/kg and aflatoxin B1 between <limit of quantification and 93.8 μg/kg, with a wide variability also with short distanced fields. Deoxynivalenol was detected with a considerable incidence (59%), but only three samples exceeded 1,750 μg/kg. Therefore, climate variability and related uncertainties, commonly stressed on a large scale, are not only a matter for policymakers, but also for farmers facing every day the impact on fungi and mycotoxin occurrence.