Özge Özgen Arun

THE EFFECT OF HEAT PROCESSING ON PCR DETECTION OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED SOY IN BAKERY PRODUCTS

Soy is commonly added to various foods because of its quality and health benefits. However, it is also the most commonly cultivated genetically modified (GM) crop. Hence, detection of GM soy in food preparations is an important goal of food science research. Although DNA is relatively stable during processing, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can be used to analyze processed food products, the processing factor-induced DNA degradation limits these methods. We evaluated the effect of different baking temperatures on the detection of GM soy in cookies by preparing cookies containing various amounts of GM soy and baking them at different temperatures and for different times. The effect of heat on the DNA quality was inspected by detecting the cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter and species-specific lectin sequences. As conclusion, the heating process affects the sensitivity of the PCR screening of GM organisms significantly, and the detection limit is elevated.