Application of analytical methods to identify critical limits of grain infection by Fusarium fungi

Relevance. The scientific community and agricultural producers are looking for a solution to the problem of how to protect consumers from the effects of hazardous mycotoxins in agricultural products. One of the tools, which will be considered in this article, is a screening system that allows determining the quan-titative indicators of wheat grain infection by toxin-producing fungi in a short time.Methods. The method of quantitative PCR with the detection of fungal DNA and the method of enzyme immunoassay with the detection of Fusarium antigens were used to characterize the grain infection.Results. We established the lower critical limit of DNA content which is 3955·10-4 pg/ng and the lower critical limit of Fusarium antigens which is 596 U/g based on the analyzes of grain fungi contamination in model experiments. Grain should be subjected to mycotoxins analysis upon detection of these critical lim-its. All batches of grain can be used in production without additional analyzes if their values determined by analytical methods are below that critical points. The obtained values can be quantitative benchmarks corresponding to the standard visual analysis of grain contamination currently described in GOST 31646-2012