Agriculture & Food, Volume 6, 2018

Abstract: The objective of grain storage control is to ensure a secure supply of food industries both in quantity and quality between two harvests. Despite efforts to monitor and control the environment, there are still risks of material and/or quality loss that can reach 50% of the total value of the harvest in developing countries, and between 5 and 10% in industrialized countries. In industrialized countries, economic losses are more associated with deterioration of the sanitary and technological quality of grain than with losses of material. Control of this quality is a real challenge, especially during the storage phase. Among other factors, fungal contamination and subsequent mycotoxins production present serious problems in terms of diminishing grain quality and health risks for consumers. It has been shown that moulds emit Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) when they colonize a substrate, these compounds being detectable before the infestations are visible. The fungal contamination Index (FCI) was initially developed by CSTB to monitor early fungal developments in different indoor environments. This study aims to test the feasibility to use VOCs emission and especially FCI to detect fungal growth on maize grains during storage. First results allowed the characterization of specific VOC profile of maize, with more than 100 different VOC emitted during grain storage, in laboratory conditions. Furthermore, results clearly demonstrated that the development of fungi following artificial contamination or development of mycoflora initially present on grains led to the emission of a different pattern of VOCs.