Romanian Biotechnological Letters Vol. 20, No. 5, 2015 Copyright © 2015 University of Bucharest Printed in Romania. All rights reserved ORIGINAL PAPER Romanian Biotechnological Letters, Vol. 20, No. 5, 2015 10901 The influence of Fusarium culmorum contamination level on deoxynivalenol content in wheat, malt and beer Received for publication, October 25, 2014 Accepted, July 14, 2015 VINKO KRSTANOVIĆ 1 , KRISTINA MASTANJEVIĆ 1* , NATALIJA VELIĆ 1 , JELKA PLEADIN 2 , NINA PERŠI 2 , VALENTINA ŠPANIĆ 3 1 Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Food Technology Osijek, F. Kuhača 20, 31000 Osijek, Croatia 2 Croatian Veterinary Institute, Savska 143, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia 3 Agricultural Institute Osijek, Južno predgrađe 7, 31000 Osijek, Croatia *Address correspondence to: Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Faculty of Food Technology Osijek, F. Kuhača 20, 31000 Osijek, Croatia. Tel: + 385 31 224356, Fax: + 385 31 207 115; E-mail: kristina.habschied@ptfos.hr Abstract The objectives of this study were to investigate the impact of the initial Fusarium culmorum contamination level on deoxynivalenol (DON) concentrations in wheat, green malt, dry malt, beer and its by-products and to determine the influence of applied unit operations during the wheat beer production process on DON concentrations. Wheat samples with different initial F. culmorum contamination levels were subjected to a micromalting procedure followed by microbiological and toxicological analyses of green malt (grain after steeping and germination), dry malt and beer in which the share of F. culmorum- contaminated grain and the DON concentration were determined. The results show that the strongest proliferation of fungus occurred during the steeping and germination phase, whereas the drying phase significantly reduced the contamination level. Mycotoxicological analysis showed that DON is stable during beer production, transfers from malt to wort, and is found in beer production by-products such as spent grain, spent yeast and germ/rootlets. Key words: ELISA, Fusarium, wheat, beer, deoxynivalenol Introduction Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is a worldwide agricultural commodity used for human and animal consumption. In addition to its use in the cereal and baking industries, wheat has also been used for malt production and as a basic element in beer production. Wheat grains are nutritionally rich and therefore are a suitable substrate for microbial growth (1). Fungi of the genus Fusarium are important microorganisms in the malting and brewing industry. They proliferate during the malting process and affect the safety of malt by producing mycotoxins. Factors affecting Fusarium proliferation during malting include the initial contamination of the grain, interactions between species of the microbial population, nutritive characteristics of grain and most of all, process parameters (temperature, aeration, additives, and humidity) (2). Wheat is contaminated with Fusarium in the field from heading till grain maturity, but Fusarium can additionally be spread during transport and storage. The potential outcomes of cereal Fusarium contamination are decrease in yield, lower average seed dimensions, decrease in nutritive value, loss of color and changes in smell and taste (1; 2; 3). Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a severe disease of small grains (4), namely wheat, barley, and rye, but it can also result in Gibberella ear