Estimation of the deoxynivalenol and moisture contents of bulk wheat grain samples by FT-NIR spectroscopy

Authors: PEIRIS, K. H. - Kansas State University; DONG, Y - University Of Minnesota; DAVIS, M - Kansas State University; BOCKUS, W - Kansas State University; Dowell, Floyd

Submitted to: Cereal Chemistry
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/1/2017
Publication Date: 6/15/2017
Citation: Peiris, K.S., Dong, Y., Davis, M.A., Bockus, W.W., Dowell, F.E. 2017. Estimation of the deoxynivalenol and moisture contents of bulk wheat grain samples by FT-NIR spectroscopy. Cereal Chemistry. https://doi.org/10.1094/CCHEM-11-16-0271-R.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1094/CCHEM-11-16-0271-R

Interpretive Summary: Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a highly destructive fungal disease of wheat that causes heavy economic losses in many wheat growing regions around the world. Deoxynivalenol (DON) can be produced by this disease, and levels in harvested grain samples are used to evaluate the FHB resistance of wheat cultivars and breeding lines. Near-infrared spectroscopy was used to estimate the DON and moisture content of bulk wheat grain samples harvested from FHB screening trials. DON and moisture content prediction models showed that these calibrations can be used to rapidly prescreen wheat lines to identify low-DON lines for further evaluation using standard laboratory methods, thereby reducing the time and costs of analyzing samples from FHB screening trials.

Technical Abstract: Deoxynivalenol (DON) levels in harvested grain samples are used to evaluate the Fusarium head blight (FHB) resistance of wheat cultivars and breeding lines. Fourier transform near-infrared (FT-NIR) calibrations were developed to estimate the DON and moisture content (MC) of bulk wheat grain samples harvested from FHB screening trials. Grains in a rotating glass petri dish were scanned in the 10,000–4000 cm-1 (1000–2500 nm) spectral range using a Perkin Elmer Spectrum 400 FT-IR/FT-NIR spectrometer. The DON calibration predicted the DON levels in test samples with an R2 = 0.62 and root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) = 8.24 ppm. When 5–25 ppm DON was used as the cut-off to classify samples into low- and high-DON groups, 63.7–79.7% of the low-DON samples were correctly classified, while the classification accuracy of the high-DON group was 82.6–94.1%. The MC calibration predicted the MC in grain samples with an R2 = 0.98 and RMSEP = 0.19%. Therefore, these FT-NIR calibrations can be used to rapidly prescreen wheat lines to identify low-DON lines for further evaluation using standard laboratory methods, thereby reducing the time and costs of analyzing samples from FHB screening trials.