SUGARCANE NUTRITIONAL ANALYSIS TO ENABLE FOOD SAFETY ASSESSMENT OF GM CULTIVARS—APPROACHES TO ESTABLISHING A BASELINE

GENETICALLY modified (GM) sugarcane cultivars are under development. Before these cultivars can be grown commercially and the products derived from them used, they will need approval by regulatory authorities. The pathway for regulation of the food derived from genetically modified sugarcane is discussed, in particular the likely requirements for the compositional analysis of sugarcane. Some of the components required for analysis are not normally measured. However, using data from some of the components of the plant that are frequently measured (sucrose, ash, nitrogen, fibre) it is possible to determine how factors such as genetics, season, geography, management (e.g. nutrition) and time of year may affect them. From this, a strategy for sampling crops and experiments to determine the range of values, particularly for the components not routinely measured such as fats and protein, can be defined. This strategy will facilitate sampling and measurement to document the range of compositions that could be expected from existing production systems. A set of baseline measurements that can be used for comparing the composition of GM plants to existing cultivars during the assessment process will be the end result.