Practical aspects of fumonisin production under laboratory conditions

Studies were performed to develop an efficient method for fumonisin toxin production in sufficient quantities for animal toxicological experiments, on the basis of three earlier published fumonisin toxin production methods.Three absolutely necessary factors were taken into account and tested in a serial experiment. TheFusarium verticillioides strain MRC 826 was directly inoculated onto soaked, autoclaved, whole maize kernels (50 g/1.71 jar). The inoculation was performed by standard spore suspension (l×l0(6)/ml), a 5/2 surface/volume culture was prepared and incubated at 25 °C for 5 weeks. To maintain the optimal aw of approximately 1.00, the evaporated water was re-filled weekly. A final concentration of 4454±1060.9 ppm fumonisin B1 was reached, with good repeatability. In the laboratory practice, consistent production of constant amounts of FB1 can be obtained by applying the above settings.