Occurrence of Beauvericin and Enniatins in Wheat Affected by <i>Fusarium avenaceum</i> Head Blight

We evaluated Fusarium contamination and the levels of hexadepsipeptide mycotoxins in 13 wheat samples affected by head blight in Finland. Fusarium avenaceum was the dominant species (91%) isolated from all samples, but isolates of F. culmorum (4%), F. tricinctum (3%), and F. poae (2%) also were recovered. Beauvericin (0.64 to 3.5 microg/g) was detected in all 13 samples. Enniatin B (trace to 4.8 microg/g) was detected in 12 samples, enniatin B(1) (trace to 1.9 microg/g) was detected in 8 samples, and enniatin A(1) (trace to 6.9 microg/g) was detected in 10 samples. Ten of 13 strains of F. avenaceum and 2 strains of F. poae and F. tricinctum produced beauvericin in culture on rice (trace to 70, 9.4, and 33 microg/g, respectively). All strains also produced enniatins (trace to 2,700 microg/g). This is the first report on the natural co-occurence of beauvericin and enniatins in wheat infected predominantly by F. avenaceum.