Thirty six corn cultivars were evaluated in relation to incidence of burned (Fusarium subglutinans) and moldy grains (Penicillium oxalicum), and fumonisin B1 production. The burned grains were submitted to the grain health (deep freezing), seeking to identify the fungi associated to the grains. The cultivar 'Hatã 3052' presented 7.6% of burned grains, above the tolerance limit that is of 6.0%. The cultivars 'AG 5011', 'HT 7105-3', 'Dina 1000' and 'C701' presented 16.8, 3.4, 3.2 and 3.1% of moldy grains, respectively; above the tolerance limit that is of 3.0%. Fusarium subglutinans (Gibberella fujikuroi var. subglutinans) was the promoter of burned grains, whose detection varied from 50 to 99%. The variance analysis showed significant differences among the cultivars regarding the incidences of burned grains and moldy grains. Regarding the fumonisina B1 production, the cultivars 'Hatã 3052', 'NB 6077' and '983 P' produced 7; 6.1 and 5.9 µg.g-1 of grains, respectively, with significative difference from the cultivar 'P3071' (2.2 µg.g-1 of grains). There were significative differences among the corn cultivars with respectm to the burned and moldy grains production; as well as interaction among cultivars and the toxigenic fungous Fusarium subglutinans (Gibberella fujikuroi var. subglutinans) regarding fumonisin B1 production in corn grains.
Zea mays; fungi; mycotoxin; grain pathology
