Oats Health Benefits

Oats (Avena sativa L.) is a small grain cereal that is among the most consumed cereals. It is used both for human and animal diet and it is known for it’s high nutritional values (Redaelli et al., 2009). Oats is used as an important source of food especially in northern hemisphere and Nordic countries (Andon and Anderson, 2008). Oats contains ß-glucans, unsaturated fatty acids, antioxidants, dietary fiber, proteins, minerals and vitamins which are making the oats a nutritious cereal (Wood, 1990). Oats food products are recognized for their positive effects on health such as reducing total cholesterol of the blood and especially LDL (Low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol (Andon and Anderson, 2008).
Fusarium head blight (FHB) is a destructive disease of cereals

FHB caused by Fusarium langsethiae can reduce the grain yield, but the most problematic concern is the production of mycotoxins that can have adverse effects on health (Rocha et al., 2005). Infection of Fusarium is favored by moist and warm condition at the flowering stage and later on during the growing period (Xu and Nicholson, 2009), but the severity of the disease may vary from region to region and year to year, because it is so dependent on climatic condition (Xu et al., 2007). The optimum temperature for F. langsethiae infection is 25°C (10-35°C min-max) (Medina and Magan, 2010).
F. langsethiae was classified as a new species in 2004 (Torp and Nirenberg, 2004). Before, the F. langsethiae was known as powdery F. poae, because of the similarities in morphological profile (Torp and Langseth, 1999). The properties that differs F. langsethiae from F. poae are slower growth, less aerial spores and lack of odor (Yli-Mattila et al., 2004). It also has powdery appearance when it is growing on artificial growth media and it does not produce sporodochial spores (Torp and Langseth, 1999; Torp and Nirenberg,