Fusarium culmorum is one of the most important Fusarium species causing head blight infections in wheat, rye, and triticale. It is known as a potent mycotoxin producer with deoxynivalenol (DON), 3‐acetyl deoxynivalenol (3‐ADON), and nivalenol (NIV) being the most prevalent toxins. In this study, the effect of winter cereal species, host genotype, and environment on DON accumulation and Fusarium head blight (FHB) was analysed by inoculating 12 rye, eight wheat, and six triticale genotypes of different resistance levels with a DON‐producing isolate at three locations in 2 years (six environments). Seven resistance traits were assessed, including head blight rating and relative plot yield. In addition, ergosterol, DON and 3‐ADON contents in the grain were determined. A growth‐chamber experiment with an artificially synchronized flowering date was also conducted with a subset of two rye, wheat and triticale genotypes. Although rye genotypes were, on average, affected by Fusarium infections much the same as wheat genotypes, wheat accumulated twice as much DON as rye. Triticale was least affected and the grain contained slightly more DON than rye. In the growth‐chamber experiment, wheat and rye again showed similar head blight ratings, but rye had a somewhat lower relative head weight and a DON content nine times lower than wheat (3.9 vs. 35.3 mg/kg). Triticale was least susceptible with a five times lower DON content than wheat. Significant (P = 0.01) genotypic variation for DON accumulation existed in wheat and rye. The differences between and within cereal species in the field experiments were highly influenced by environment for resistance traits and mycotoxin contents. Nevertheless, mean mycotoxin content of the grain could not be associated with general weather conditions in the individual environments. Strong genotype‐environment interactions were found for all cereal species. This was mainly due to three wheat varieties and one rye genotype being environmentally extremely unstable. The more resistant entries, however, showed a higher environmental stability of FHB resistance and tolerance to DON accumulation. Correlations between resistance traits and DON content were high in wheat (P = 0.01), with the most resistant varieties also accumulating less DON, but with variability in rye. In conclusion, the medium to large genotypic variation in wheat and rye offers good possibilities for reducing DON content in the grains by resistance selection. Large confounding effects caused by the environment will require multiple locations and/or years to evaluate FHB resistance and mycotoxin accumulation.

A new sensitive method for the simultaneous determination of 12 trichothecenes (deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol, 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol, fusarenon X, T-2 toxin, HT-2 toxin, neosolaniol, monoacetoxyscirpenol, diacetoxyscirpenol, T-2 triol, and T-2 tetraol) by liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) is presented. The development of the method and investigations on the matrix influence on the MS signal are described in particular. The matrix effect was thereby minimized by using an internal standard, a special mobile phase, and specific fragmentation parameters. The sample was extracted with acetonitrile/water (84:16, v/v), and the extract was cleaned up with a MycoSep 227 column. Quantification was based on the internal standard de-epoxy-deoxynivalenol. Calibration curves were linear between 16 and 1600 ng/g, and the limits of detection ranged from 0.18 to 5.0 ng/g. The developed method was applied for the determination of trichothecenes in 120 naturally contaminated wheat and oat samples.

A new reliable and cost-efficient solid phase extraction-based clean-up method for the determination of 12 type A and B trichothecenes [deoxynivalenol (DON), nivalenol, 3-acetyldeoxynivalenol, 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol, fusarenon-X, T-2 toxin, HT-2 toxin, neosolaniol, monoacetoxy-scirpenol, diacetoxyscirpenol, T-2 triol and T-2 tetraol] in cereals and cereal-based food is presented. Furthermore, the suitability for the simultaneous determination of zearalenone is examined. Toxins were extracted from cereal samples using ACN/water (80/20, v/v), purified by means of a new Bond Elut Mycotoxin column and analyzed via liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry. Limits of detection were calculated for the matrix wheat and ranged from 0.3 to 5 ng/g, depending on the toxin. Average recovery rates for the tested compounds in seven cereal-based matrices have been determined ranging from 65 to 104%. The relative standard deviations of the complete method ranged from 2.67 (DON, wheat) to 20.0% (T-2 toxin, oats).

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