Detection of soy DNA in margarines

The method in which to discriminate between genetically modified (GM) versus non-modified foodstuffs is based on the presence of newly introduced genes at the protein or DNA level. Current available methods are almost exclusively based on the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This procedure consists of three steps: DNA isolation, the amplification of the desired DNA fragment and visualisation of the obtained amplification products. The first and crucial step is the DNA isolation. Due to several processing steps, the quality of the extracted DNA may be damaged, rendering PCR analysis, and therefore GMO detection, impossible. In this study, the DNA quality of soy lecithin in margarines has been evaluated by PCR. For this purpose, DNA was isolated from margarines with different levels of lecithin with two different extraction methods, including the CTAB method proposed by the European Committe for Standardization (CEN). The amplification of soy DNA by PCR resulted to be difficult, which could be explained by the difficult DNA extraction from margarine and the low lecithin content.