Analysis of plants and foodstuff

Main crops

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THC content in hemp for certification of the 0.2% content threshold

• ISCI is the Institute officially in charge, on behalf of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, for monitoring in italian hemp fields the threshold of THC (D9-tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive cannabinoid). ISCI is also officially authorized to certify that the 0.20 % THC threshold (% of the inflorescence dry weight) is not exceeded .
• The analysis on hemp plants is carried out by the official gas-chromatographic assay, described in Enclosure V del Regulation (CE) N327/2002, 21/2/2002. The results of the analysis on all the hemp cultivations are sent to AGEA, for the allocation of the UE subsidies to the growers.
  

 

 

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Real time PCR for detection and quantification of OGM in plant-derived matrices

• ISCI is one of the two institutes of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry officially in charge for the control and monitoring of OGMs in plant-deriving materials.
• The technology used by ISCI is the Real Time PCR (file Real Time), allowing the precise quantification of the presence of genetically modified organisms in different types of agri-food materials. The assay is based on the taqman technology and on the 5'-exonucleasic activity of DNA polymerase.
• The matrices analysed can be raw, semi-finished or final products
• The target DNA is the CMV (Cauliflower Mosaic Virus) 35S promoter.
• The assay allows an absolute quantification of the transgenic DNA on the basis of a calibration curve obtained with standard, certified OGMs, the concentration of the transgene DNA is normalized against the concentration of species-specific DNA. This assay is very sensitive and highly reproducible. The efficiency of the reaction is 100%, because only the exponential phase of PCR is considered, besides, all the drawbacks of the end-point assay and of post-PCR products are eliminated.
  

Contacts:
Dr. Anna Moschella, a.moschella@isci.it