Cereal Chem 68:428-431   |  VIEW ARTICLE

Removal by Specific Gravity Table of Tombstone Kernels and Associated Trichothecenes from Wheat Infected with Fusarium Head Blight.

R. Tkachuk, J. E. Dexter, K. H. Tipples, and T. W. Nowicki. Copyright 1991 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Commercially grown Canada Eastern White Winter wheats infected to varying degrees by Fusarium head blight were fractionated on a specific gravity table. Visual examination by inspectors from the Canadian Grain Commission revealed that the most severely infected kernels, which were thin and shriveled (tombstone kernels), were highly concentrated in the least dense fractions for all wheats. Mycological examination of the wheats and their fractions showed that the incidence of Fusarium infection was greatest for the least dense fractions and least for the most dense fractions. Chemical analysis by gas chromatography using a mass selective detector verified that in all cases, the mycotoxin deoxynivalenol was highly concentrated in the least dense fractions, and the most dense fractions contained greatly reduced levels compared with the corresponding unfractionated wheats. These results suggest that specific gravity tables can be used effectively to remove tombstone kernels and associated mycotoxins from Fusarium- infected wheat. Removing the least dense fraction has the added advantages of promoting the visual grade and improving the milling properties of the remaining wheat relative to the corresponding unfractionated wheat.