Fumonisins in corn cultivars in the state of Säo Paulo

ABSTRACT

Twenty three samples, belonging to 19 corn cultivars with sistinct types of germoplasms, endosperm and lenght of vegetative cycle, were analyzed for fumonisins B(1) and B(2). The cultivars were grown in experimental fields in three locations (Votuporanga, Ribeirão Preto and Capão Bonito) within th State of São Paulo, Brazil, during the 97/98 crop. All samples were contaminated with fumonisins with concentrations ranging from 1.63(micro)g/g to 25.69(micro)g/g with average of 5.61(micro)g/g for FB(1) and from 0.38(micro)g/g to 8.60(micro)g/g with an average of 1.86(micro)g/g for FB(2). In terms of fumonisins, these high levels put the corn cultivated in São Paulo among the most contaminated in the world reported to date