Abstract: Objective To evaluate the fungi contamination of wheat harvested in 2015 in order to provide the basis for fungi and mycotoxin control and study in predictive microbiology. Methods Organoleptic examinations and thousand-grain weight check were conducted for wheat kernel samples collected without storage from five regions of Anhui Province harvested in 2015. Wheat kernels were sterilized and inoculated onto potato dextrose agar medium plates which contained 0.1 g/L chloramphenicol. The colony-forming units of fungi germinated were enumerated, classified and identified after incubation for 5 d at(28±1)℃. Results Varied amounts of gibberella damaged wheat kernels were observed in each sample, the frequencies ranging from 8.0% to 20.0%. The average value of thousand-grain weight ranged from 39.8 to 48.5 g. The frequency of scabby wheat kernels had negative correlation with thousand-grain weight(r=-0.98). The frequency of wheat samples contaminated by fungi was up to 100.0%, and the predominant was Alternaria species. Conclusion The wheat kernels collected from five regions of Anhui Province harvested in 2015 are seriously contaminated by fungi and the frequency of scabby wheat kernels is pretty high. There is a need to focus on the detection of mycotoxins combined with a risk assessment of different mycotoxins in wheat and its products to Chinese population.

Key words: Scabby wheat, Contamination, Fungi, Anhui Province