Unintended effects were investigated in antioxidant activity between genetically modified organisms and their nontransgenic control

Abstract

Other than the targeted approach on compositional analysis, non-targeted approaches on genomics, proteomics and metabolomics are developing to search for unintended effects with respect to genetically modified (GM) food safety assessments. Antioxidant activity system was closely related with plant growth and reproduction as well as human health. This study was to investigate some other potential unintended effects from a range of primary and secondary metabolites by comparison of antioxidant activity system between six pairs of GMOs and their nontransgenic control. Antioxidant activity system was explored in total phenolics, unsaturated fatty acids and oxido-reductase activity analysis (including peroxidase (POD), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), catalase activity (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and glutathione reductase (GR)). The results from oxido-reductase activity analysis indicated significant differences (P < 0.05) between GMOs and their nontransgenic control, except for a few enzymatic activities of several GM crops. The data of total phenolics and unsaturated fatty acids also showed significant differences (P < 0.05) between GMOs and their nontransgenic control. However, no obvious differences occurred among all tested maize samples or canola samples.

Key words: Unintended effects, antioxidant activity, genetically modified organisms, maize, canola.