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N2 controlled atmosphere reduces postharvest mycotoxins risk and pests attack on cereal grains

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Abstract

Mycotoxigenic fungi and pests are responsible for quality losses during medium to long-term storage of grain. Since gas composition is considered one of the most important abiotic conditions that influence fungal and pest growth, the use of a controlled atmosphere with a very high N2 concentration is a valid tool to control grain quality in post-harvest. Aim of the present work is to evaluate the use of a highly purified N2 controlled atmosphere – generated in situ by a Membrane Nitrogen Separator (Eurosider s.a.s) – for safely storage of corn and wheat grains. Two different parallel lab-scale experiments were performed in order to assess the effect of N2 atmosphere on: (1) the growth of Fusarium graminearum, Fusarium langsethiae, Aspergillus flavus and Fusarium verticillioides on agar and the production of aflatoxins on corn grains; (2) the populations of the most important post-harvest pests such as Sitophilus oryzae and Tribolium confusum on wheat grains and flour, respectively. When exposed to highly purified N2 controlled atmosphere (98.5%±0.5), growth and sporulation of all the four pathogens and aflatoxins production by Aspergillus were significantly reduced. In addition, atmosphere containing 98.5%±0.5 N2 caused the complete mortality of adults of S. oryzae after 3 days on wheat and of T. confusum after 7 days on flour. Results herewith reported suggest that N2 controlled atmosphere represents an eco-friendly tool that could be transferred to a large-scale system for grain storage in order to avoid or reduce chemical treatments.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by Eurosider sas di Milli Ottavio & C. and Fondazione Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro Ricerche Strumenti Biotecnici nel settore Agricolo-forestale (CRISBA), ISIS “Leopoldo II di Lorena” Cittadella dello Studente, 58100, Grosseto, Italia

    Moncini Lorenzo & Pachetti Gianpaola

  2. Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Alimentari e Agro-ambientali, Università di Pisa, Via del Borghetto 80, 56124, Pisa, Italia

    Sarrocco Sabrina & Vannacci Giovanni

  3. ISPA-CNR, Via Giovanni Amendola, 122/O, 70126, Bari, Italia

    Moretti Antonio & Haidukowski Miriam

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  1. Moncini Lorenzo
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  2. Sarrocco Sabrina
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  3. Pachetti Gianpaola
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  4. Moretti Antonio
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  5. Haidukowski Miriam
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Correspondence to Sarrocco Sabrina.

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Lorenzo, M., Sabrina, S., Gianpaola, P. et al. N2 controlled atmosphere reduces postharvest mycotoxins risk and pests attack on cereal grains. Phytoparasitica 48, 555–565 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12600-020-00818-3

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