Mycotoxin Grain Sorting Device

WASHINGTON - Jan 13/04 - SNS -- Grain sorters can be used to separate corn infected with mycotoxins based on work by a USDA Agricultural Research Service engineer.

Mycotoxins are natural--yet potentially toxic--compounds produced by some fungi. Occurring on corn, cottonseed, wheat and other crops, they can cause serious illness in animals and livestock and are considered carcinogenic to humans.

Thomas C. Pearson adapted a commercially available grain sorter to detect two types of mycotoxins that commonly infest corn: aflatoxin, which is produced by some strains of the fungus Aspergillus flavus, and fumonisin, produced by fungi of the genus Fusarium.

Pearson found that two bands of infrared light are needed to detect almost all kernels of corn contaminated with alflatoxin and fumonisin. He equipped a grain sorter with a pair of filters corresponding with these wavelengths. The grain sorter is manufactured by Satake USA Inc. of Houston, Texas.

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