Fusarium species and mycotoxin contamination in maize in Buenos Aires province, Argentina Eliana Castañares & Mauro Martínez & Diego Cristos & Dante Rojas & Bruno Lara & Sebastián Stenglein & María I. Dinolfo Accepted: 13 September 2019 # Koninklijke Nederlandse Planteziektenkundige Vereniging 2019 Abstract Maize is one of the most important crops in Argentina. This crop can be affected by the presence of different Fusarium species, causing two distinct diseases known as Fusarium ear rot and Gibberella ear rot. In this study, a total of 90 samples from commercial fields of Buenos Aires province in Argentina were collected during the 2015, 2016 and 2017 harvest seasons with the aim to evaluate Fusarium species presence, mycotoxin content and to establish a relationship between the main Fusarium mycotoxins infecting maize grains and the environmental conditions. The results showed that F. verticillioides was the most isolated species followed by F. subglutinans, species of Fusarium graminearum species complex, F. proliferatum, and F. cerealis varying their presence according to the harvest season evaluated. Regarding my- cotoxins, deoxynivalenol and 3-acetyl-deoxynivalenol showed content from 281.26 ± 22.51 to 359.02 ± 42.57 μg/kg in the 3 yrs evaluated, while 15-acetyl- deoxynivalenol, nivalenol, and zearalenone were not found. With regard to B 1 and B 2 fumonisins, these myco- toxins were detected below the detection limit of 0.3 μg/kg in some maize samples in the 3 yrs. The selection of maize genotypes, cultural practices, and climatic conditions could be responsible for the Fusarium species found and their respective mycotoxin production. Due to worldwide con- cern about food security and the potential risk the global climate change could impart, it will be necessary to devel- op predictive models based on meteorological conditions to determine the risk of Fusarium presence and mycotoxin production in maize similar to those developed in other crops. Keywords Maize . Fusarium . Mycotoxin . Climatic conditions Introduction Maize (Zea mays L.) constitutes one of the most impor- tant crops with maize grain destined for feed, bioethanol production, and human consumption. The total world production of maize for 2017/2018 harvest season was around 1037 million tons, with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimating that the production for Eur J Plant Pathol https://doi.org/10.1007/s10658-019-01853-5 Eliana Castañares and Mauro Martínez contributed equally to this work. E. Castañares : M. Martínez : S. Stenglein (*) : M. I. Dinolfo (*) Laboratorio de Biología Funcional y Biotecnología (BIOLAB)-INBIOTEC-CONICET-CICBA, Facultad de Agronomía, UNCPBA, Av. República de Italia # 780. 7300 Azul, Buenos Aires, Argentina e-mail: stenglein@faa.unicen.edu.ar e-mail: inesdinolfo@faa.unicen.edu.ar D. Cristos : D. Rojas Área de Protección de Alimentos Instituto Tecnología de Alimentos Centro de Investigación de Agroindustria (CIA-INTA), Nicolas Repetto y de los Reseros s/n. 1686 Hurlingham, Buenos Aires, Argentina B. Lara Laboratorio de Investigación y Servicios en Teledetección de Azul (LISTA) - CONICET -Facultad de Agronomía de Azul. UNCPBA, Av. República de Italia # 780. 7300 Azul, Buenos Aires, Argentina