Presence of zearalenone in New Zealand pasture leaves

Authors: di Menna M, Lauren DR, Holland PT
Publication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 33, Issue 11, pp 193, Nov 1985
Publisher: Taylor and Francis

Animal type: General
Subject Terms: Bacterial, Fungal/yeast, Mycotoxicosis, Pasture/crop, Nutrition/metabolism, Poisoning - plant, Toxicology, Reproduction - hormones
Article class: Correspondence

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Abstract: Fusarium spp. are a common component of the mycollora of pasture leaves in the North Island of New Zealand, probably in the South Island also, and are at their peak in numbers from February to April, the time at which most ewes are mated. As some Fusarium spp. produce the oestrogen zearalenone, it was thought that zearalenone production by pasture Fusaria might be partly responsible for the low lambing percentages reported from some parts of New Zealand. Gallagher reported zearalenone production in culture by pasture isolates of Fusarium culmorum but the oestrogen has not previously been unequivocally detected in fresh pasture leaves. Mirocha et al. found 14 ppm F-2 toxin (= zearalenone) in poor quality hay implicated in infertility in dairy cattle in England, but it was not known whether the oestrogen had been produced before or after the hay was made. In 1985 pasture leaf samples were collected, usually at two weekly intervals, from mid-January to mid-April at sites in the Gisborne, Pukekohe and Wanganui districts. Gisborne samples were collected on a lowland and on a high country farm from the paddocks in which ewes were grazing…

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