**3. Strategies to mitigate mycotoxin contamination**

levels of mycotoxin contamination may be low and rarely exceed risk threshold levels, but as the content range is very wide, several samples may exceed the maximum or recommended

**Figure 2.** Year‐by‐year average mycotoxin concentration in wheat and wheat bran samples (modified from Ref. [20]).

**Maximum level (ppb) EU maximum levels\***

**(ppb)**

W: 750

W: 75

UW: 100 W: 50

W: 3

**Content, average of positive (ppb)**

DON 68 (770) 960 15976 UW: 1250

ZEA 37 (645) 98 3274 UW: 100

T‐2 22 (342) 21 163 T‐2+HT‐2\*\*

AFLA, aflatoxins; DON, deoxynivalenol; FUM, fumonisins; OTA, ochratoxin A; T‐2, T‐2 toxin; ZEA, zearalenone; Aw,

\*Commission Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 of 19 December 2006 setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in

\*\*Indicates recommendations (2013/165/EU: Commission Recommendation of 27 March 2013 on the presence of T‐2 and

FUM 14 (331) 356 5334 – AFLA 16 (396) 5 161 4 OTA 14 (278) 3 9 UW: 5

water activity; n.a., not available; W, wheat for direct human consumption; UW, unprocessed wheat.

**Table 1.** Results of mycotoxin occurrence in wheat in 2015 (modified from Ref. [22]).

**Mycotoxins Contaminated samples, % (n of tested samples)**

230 Wheat Improvement, Management and Utilization

HT‐2 toxin in cereals and cereal products).

foodstuffs.

levels for mycotoxin contamination (**Table 1**) [11, 14, 17, 18, 20, 22, 34].

Fungi can invade, colonize, and produce mycotoxins during either preharvest or postharvest stages [5–8]. Therefore, to properly manage mycotoxin contamination in wheat, the primary strategy is the prevention, by reducing fungi proliferation in field and during storage [48–51]. Commonly and usually, mycotoxinogenic fungi are divided into two groups: preharvest (mainly *Fusarium* species) and postharvest (mainly *Aspergillius* and *Penicillium* species) fungi. During storage, fungi and insects may cause further deterioration. Fungi, such as *A. clavatus, A. fumigatus, Chaetomium, Scopulariopsis, Rhizopus, Mucor,* and *Absidia,* do not infect intact crops, but can easily attack damaged grains and, in the presence of high moisture content, may be responsible of advanced deterioration [52].

There are several possibilities for mitigating mycotoxin contamination. Preharvest events are predominantly dictated by environmental factors and good agronomic/cultural practices. Conditions, such as excessive moisture, temperature extremes, humidity, drought conditions, insect damage, crop systems, and some agronomic practices, can cause stress and predispose plants in the field to mold and determine the severity of mycotoxin contamination [5, 31, 53]. *Fusarium* sp. are generally associated with a cool and excessively wet growing season [31, 54]. Wheat storage and processing are the major areas where contamination can be managed and mitigated at postharvest level, keeping in mind that postharvest contamination is also the result of preharvest presence of fungal contamination. The main strategies that need to be considered and implemented to mitigate mycotoxin accumulation pre‐ and postharvest are summarized in **Figure 3**.


**Figure 3.** More consolidated and emerging strategies to reduce mycotoxigenic fungi and mycotoxin contamination in wheat.
