New edible GMO cottonseed could feed Millions

(11.12.2009) A scientist at the A&M University in the USA has developed a genetically modified cottonseed with reduced gossypol toxin, opening the way for use of the seed as food.

According to research, cotton farming worldwide produces sufficient protein yearly to nourish 500 million people. However, a toxin known as gossypol that is present in cottonseed has prevented its use as food. Harmful to the heart and liver in humans, cottonseed containing gossypol has been edible only to cattle.

A first step towards cottonseed as food for humans was made in the 1950s, as scientists were able to block the production of gossypol in the entire plant. However, since the toxin serves the plants’ defences, the gossypol-free variety was subject to devastating attacks from insects and diseases.

Keerti Rathore of A&M University in Texas now has produced a variety of cotton in which gossypol is produced as usual for stems, leaves, flowers and tissue but not in seeds. Field trials with the cotton have indicated stable growth and safe levels of gossypol in seeds and this method conceivably may be applied to improve edibility in other plants with toxic seeds, such as the Indian pea.

Oil pressed from conventional cottonseed already is used in food preparations such as mayonnaise and salad dressing. Protein comprises approximately one fifth of the seed and its newly-accessible variety is expected to improve the diet of malnourished individuals throughout the developing world. Cottonseed kernels may be roasted and salted or ground into meal. Testers have reported, for example, a taste "better than the roasted soybeans" and, within the next ten years, the new seed could enter the market in the form of protein bars, shakes, bread, cereal or the like.

The GM cottonseed already fulfils the standards applied to food by the World Health Organisation and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). However, commercial availability in the USA will depend on institutional approval by agencies such as the FDA and the Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Researcher Rathore has expressed the opinion that such GM cottonseed may meet less public resistance than other GM organisms since its modification involves the deactivation of an existing process within the seed, rather than the addition of a new substance. Approval, cultivation and application of the new seed would not only offer nutritional benefit but would create an entirely new market for cotton farmers. According to Rathore, "Our hope is that our cotton farmers will get more value for their crop."

Further information:

• Safe seed: Researchers yielding good results on food cotton in field