Fusarium head blight and mycotoxins in wheat: prevention and control strategies across the food chain

TORRES, A.M.; PALACIOS, S.A.; YERKOVICH, N.; PALAZZINI, J.M.; BATTILANI, P.; LESLIE, J.F.; LOGRIECO, A.F.; CHULZE, S.N.

World Mycotoxin Journal

wageningen Academic

Año: 2019 p. 1 - 24

1875-0710

With 744 million metric tons produced in 2017/2018, bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) and durum wheat (Triticumdurum) are the second most widely produced cereal on a global basis. Prevention or control of wheat diseases mayhave an enormous impact on global food security and safety. Fusarium head blight is an economically debilitatingdisease of wheat that reduces the quantity and quality of grain harvested, and may lead to contamination with themycotoxin deoxynivalenol, which affects the health of humans and domesticated animals. Current climate changescenarios predict an increase in the number of epidemics caused by this disease. Multiple strategies are available formanaging the disease including cultural practices, planting less-susceptible cultivars, crop rotation, and chemicaland biological controls. None of these strategies, however, is completely effective by itself, and an integratedapproach incorporating multiple controls simultaneously is the only effective strategy to limit the disease and reducedeoxynivalenol contamination in human food and animal feed chains. This review identifies the available tools andstrategies for mitigating the damage that can result from Fusarium head blight.