Search

The deoxynivalenol (DON) occurrence in durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) kernels is a key food safety issue, hence more and more attempts have been made to increase the availability of resistant cultivars. Within this framework, this work focused on the analysis of the behaviour of several durum wheat cultivars widely grown in Italy in relation to the level of deoxynivalenol contamination in whole milled kernels. A total of 2844 samples were submitted for deoxynivalenol analysis by enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay. The statistical analysis by generalised linear models provided a trend ranking of durum wheat cultivars on the basis of the deoxynivalenol contamination level, depending on each cultivation area assayed. This study provided a better understanding of cultivar susceptibility to mycotoxin accumulation in grains. The role of the factor cultivar has clearly emerged. However, other environmental factors, such as growing area, have a great influence on the DON concentration levels in the cultivars tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To identify agronomic practices able to increase the nitrogen (N) availability for durum wheat under organic farming, the temporary intercropping with faba bean (Vicia fabaL. var. minor Beck.) was tested in a multiyear experimental trial. The accumulation of total protein and specific protein fractions in the grain of eight Italian durum wheat cultivars grown as sole crop (SC) or intercropped with legume until durum wheat shooting were compared. Gluten quality was also examined. Analysis of variance indicated that gluten quality, total protein concentration, and monomeric and polymeric protein amounts were significantly higher in intercrops than in SCs whereas the grain yield was significantly higher in the SC. Significant cultivar × treatment interactions were observed for most of the tested parameters. PCA allowed the visualization of the genotypes able to use the higher N availability coming from the temporary intercropping to achieve the grain protein concentration of 14.1% dry matter, the threshold considered suitable by the industry for producing high quality pasta. In addition, one such genotypes also showed good grain yield, with the highest values in the temporary intercrop. The results suggested that the durum wheat-faba bean temporary intercropping could be an agronomic strategy for improving the grain quality of the cereal under organic management and, as a consequence, it may be expected to have a positive impact on the durum wheat end-product quality. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Five durum wheat cultivars were grown in a Mediterranean area (Southern Italy) under conventional and organic farming with the aim to evaluate agronomic, technological, sensory, and sanitary quality of grains and pasta. The cultivar Matt produced the best pasta quality under conventional cropping system, while the quality parameters evaluated were unsatisfactory under organic farming. The cultivar Saragolla showed the best yield amount and pasta quality in all the experimental conditions, thus proving to be the cultivar more adapt to organic farming. In all the tested experimental conditions, nivalenol (NIV) and deoxynivalenol (DON) occurrence was very low and the other mycotoxins evaluated were completely absent. These data confirm the low risk of mycotoxin contamination in the Mediterranean climate conditions. Finally, it has been possible to produce high-quality pasta in Southern Italy from durum wheat grown both in conventional and organic farming.