Control of Fusarium graminearum in Wheat With Mustard-Based Botanicals: From in vitro to in planta
Fusarium graminearum is a phytopathogenic fungus that causes Fusarium head blight in small-grain cereals, such as wheat, with significant yield reductions. Moreover, it contaminates the cereal grains with health-threatening mycotoxins, such as deoxynivalenol (DON), jeopardizing food and feed safety. Plant-based biopesticides, i.e. botanicals, have recently gained increased interest in crop protection as alternatives to synthetic chemical products. The main objective of this study was to test the control efficacy of botanicals based on white or Indian/Oriental mustard seed flours (Tillecur – Ti, Pure Yellow Mustard – PYM, Pure Oriental Mustard – POM, Oriental Mustard Bran – OMB) on F. gramin…
Use of Botanicals to Suppress Different Stages of the Life Cycle of Fusarium graminearum
Fusarium head blight (FHB) is one of the most important cereal diseases worldwide, causing yield losses and contamination of harvested products with mycotoxins. Fusarium graminearum is one of the most common FHB-causing species in wheat and barley cropping systems. We assessed the ability of different botanical extracts to suppress essential stages of the fungal life cycle using three strains of F. graminearum (FG0410, FG2113, and FG1145). The botanicals included aqueous extracts from white mustard (Sinapis alba) seed flour (Pure Yellow Mustard [PYM] and Tillecur [Ti]) as well as milled Chinese galls (CG). At 2% concentration (wt/vol), PYM and Ti completely inhibited growth of mycelium of …
Prevention of Fusarium head blight infection and mycotoxins in wheat with cut-and-carry biofumigation and botanicals
Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a devastating fungal disease of wheat worldwide causing yield losses and grain contamination with mycotoxins that jeopardise food and feed safety. Field experiments using mulch layers or botanicals were conducted in two consecutive years to investigate prevention measures with the potential to suppress FHB and reduce mycotoxins in wheat. We simulated a system with high disease pressure, i.e. maize-wheat rotation under no-tillage, by applying maize residues artificially inoculated with Fusarium graminearum in field plots after wheat sowing. For mulch layers, a novel cut-and-carry biofumigation approach was employed. Cover crops grown in separate fields were harv…