Cereal Chem 60:226 - 227.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Mycotoxin Contamination in Grain Sorghum from Fields in Georgia and Mississippi.

W. W. McMillian, D. M. Wilson, C. J. Mirocha, and N. W. Widstrom. Copyright 1983 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Contamination of grain sorghum, Sorghum bicolor (L.), with aflatoxin or zearalenone, was previously considered strictly a postharvest problem in grain improperly dried and stored. Samples of preharvest grain from 64 grain sorghum fields in the Georgia coastal plain in 1980 and 1981, however, demonstrated a 56% incidence of aflatoxin contamination ranging in levels from 1 to 90 ppb. In addition, 31% of the grain samples were contaminated with levels of zearalenone ranging from 2 to 1,468 ppb. These findings confirm the presence of mycotoxins in grain sorghum maturing in the fields. A 1981 survey of 15 fields in the Mississippi Delta found no detectable levels of aflatoxin or zearalenone. The data suggest that, although mycotoxins are present in samples of preharvest grain sorghum, the problem may not be as severe as in preharvest corn, Zea mays L., produced in the Southeast. The relatively high incidence of field contamination, however, may result in elevated levels of mycotoxins during storage of this grain. Growers and animal producers, therefore, should monitor closely the grain sorghum to be used for feed.