Correlations between the textural features of wheat kernels and the quantity of DNA of Fusarium fungi

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the surface textural features of wheat kernels and the quantity of DNA of fungi of the genus Fusarium. The images of kernels of four wheat cultivars were acquired on the ventral side and dorsal side with a flatbed scanner. Fungal DNA was quantified with specific TaqMan probes for F. culmorum and F. graminearum sensu stricto. In images acquired on the ventral side, the quantity of fungal DNA was most highly correlated with texture aHVariance from channel a in cultivar 1 (0.86), with one texture from channel R in cultivar 2 (0.80), with one texture from channel L (0.69) and one texture from channel X (− 0.69) in cultivar 3, and with one texture from channel b in cultivar 4 (0.70). In the images acquired on the dorsal side, the quantity of fungal DNA was most highly correlated with one texture from channel V in cultivar 3 (0.89), two textures from channel B in cultivar 1 (− 0.74), one texture from channel R (− 0.77), and two textures from channel Z (0.77) in cultivar 2, and one texture from channel a and textures from channel S (0.74) in cultivar 4. The results of this study indicate the usefulness of image analysis for detecting fungal infections in grain. The findings make a valuable contribution to the development of rapid, inexpensive, non-invasive, and effective methods for preliminary screening of infected and healthy kernels and for evaluating the severity of fungal infections in kernels.