Analysis of plant metabolites – the baseline-threshold principle

Abstract

With the environmental risk assessment (ERA) for genetically modified plants (GMP) the identification of equivalence or differences in the composition of ingredients of GMPs and non-GMPs has to be investigated. The strategy is based upon the idea that traditionally cultivated crops have been used safely for many years, thus every divergence within the compounds of a GMP in contrast to its non-GMP counterpart could refer to a risk and has to be further analysed.The BioOK company offers the opportunity to analyse very different aspects from the ERA of GMPs in one hand. Beside toxicological analysis and the determination of environmental effects via soil analysis, we can look into several plant metabolites to identify substantial equivalence. During the BioOK project a GC MS method for analysing approximately 60 compounds from various substance classes (e.g. sugars, sugar alcohols, amino acids, organic acids, fatty acids, sterols) in only one extraction step was developed. According to the EFSA guidelines the chemical composition of six different potato cultivars in comparison with a genetically modified variety and its non-isogenic counterpart are studied. Thus data from different non-GMPs as a base for the identification of uncommon variations in the substance composition for a GMP are obtained.