Fusarium graminearum growth and its fitness to the commonly used models

Abstract

Fusarium graminearum causes head blight in wheat and corn, and produces chemicals harmful for humans and other animals. It is important to know how it grows in order to prevent outbreaks. There are three well-known growth models for microorganisms and they seem applicable to molds: linear, Gompertz and Baranyi. This study aimed to see which could better represent F. graminearum's growth. Three replicates were grown in yeast extract agar (YEA) for 20 days, the Feret's radius was measured in ImageJ software, and then related to the models. Baranyi's model was only acceptable according to a Wilcoxon test (p = 0.280). Thus, this shall be the one used, even in routine analyses.tional properties of some wild plants, and the results may be useful for the evaluation of dietary information