Effect of soil temperature and drought on peanut pod and stem temperatures relative toAspergillus flavusinvasion and aflatoxin contamination

✍ Scribed by Timothy H. Sanders; Paul D. Blankenship; Richard J. Cole; Robert A. Hill

• Book ID: 104773164
• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1984
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 281 KB
• Volume: 86
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0301-486X
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00437229

✦ Synopsis

Peanut stem and pod temperatures of plants growing in irrigated, drought, drought-heated soil, and drought-cooled soil treatments were determined near the end of the growing season. Mean soil temperatures of the treatments during this period were 21.5 ~ , 25.5 ~ , 30 ~ and 20 ~ C, respectively. Peanut stem temperatures in all drought treatments reached a maximum of ca. 40 ~ C and for 6-7 h each day were as much as 10 ~ C warmer than irrigated peanut stems. Pod temperatures in drought-heated soil and drought treatments were ca. 34 ~ C and 30 ~ C, respectively, for several hours each day. As pod temperatures approached the optimum for A. flavus growth (ca. 35 ~ C), the proportion of kernels colonized and aflatoxin concentrations increased.

Increased plant temperature without accompanying pod temperature increases (drought-cooled soil) resulted in colonization percentages and aflatoxin concentrations only slightly higher than those of the irrigated peanuts.