DNA extraction methods for detecting genetically modified foods: A comparative study

Abstract

The work presented in this manuscript was achieved to compare six different methods for extracting DNA from raw maize and its derived products. The methods that gave higher yield and quality of DNA were chosen to detect the genetic modification in the samples collected from the Egyptian market. The different methods used were evaluated for extracting DNA from maize kernels (without treatment), maize flour (mechanical treatment), canned maize (sweet corn), frozen maize (sweet corn), maize starch, extruded maize, popcorn, corn flacks, maize snacks, and bread made from corn flour (mechanical and thermal treatments). The quality and quantity of the DNA extracted from the standards, containing known percentages of GMO material and from the different food products were evaluated. For qualitative detection of the GMO varieties in foods, the GMOScreen 35S/NOS test kit was used, to screen the genetic modification in the samples. The positive samples for the 35S promoter and/or the NOS terminator were identified by the standard methods adopted by EU. All of the used methods extracted yielded good DNA quality. However, we noted that the purest DNA extract were obtained using the DNA extraction kit (Roche) and this generally was the best method for extracting DNA from most of the maize-derived foods. We have noted that the yield of DNA extracted from maize-derived foods was generally lower in the processed products. The results indicated that 17 samples were positive for the presence of 35S promoter, while 34% from the samples were positive for the genetically modified maize line Bt-176.