Impact of Alternaria spp. and Alternaria Toxins on Quality of Spelt Wheat

There is an increasing consumer demand for alternative cereals nowadays. Spelt wheat (Triticum aestivum ssp. Spelta) appears to be a future source for the agriculture and food sector. Alternaria spp. infections might become a serious danger to the worldwide grain industry, resulting in yield losses and reduction of end-use quality, with potential harmful effect of Alternaria toxins on human and animal health. This paper presents the first assessment of the impact of Alternaria infection and its toxins to quality of spelt wheat. The results showed that fungal contamination significantly reduced both trade and technological quality parameters. Volume weight, thousand kernel weight and wet gluten were significantly decreased, while protein content was significantly higher in Alternaria inoculated treatments. Although with slight decrease, falling number was not significantly affected by fungal contamination. The most negative impact of alternariol (AOH) was registered on volume weight and thousand kernel weight (-0.847; -0.898), while highly significant positive correlation was found between AOH and protein content (0.758). Alternaria spp. additionally destroyed spelt gluten structure, resulting in reduction of dough energy and baking quality with no significant influence of mycotoxins (AOH and AME) on technological quality parameters.