Global climate change has intensified droughts and other extreme weather conditions, leading to serious declines in agricultural productivity. Genetically modified (GM) soybeans with drought tolerance have been developed to enhance crop resilience. Prior to commercialization, GM crops must undergo compositional equivalence assessments to confirm that no unintended compositional differences exist compared to their non-GM counterparts. In this study, we evaluated the nutritional and compositional equivalence of two drought-tolerant GM soybean lines (DIAT7 and DIAT15) compared to their non-GM parental line (Williams 82) and three reference cultivars (Kwangan, U13625, and U14511). Soybeans were cultivated under identical field conditions, and proximate components, amino acids, fatty acids, minerals, and antinutritional factors were analyzed using standard methods. Although several analytes exhibited statistically significant differences (p<0.05), all compositional values for DIAT7 and DIAT15 were within the natural variation ranges of the reference cultivated with GM, OECD (2012), and the AFSI Crop Composition Database (v10.1). The GM lines showed protein (36-37%), lipid (19-21%), and total dietary fiber (24-27%) contents similar to those of the reference cultivars. Amino acid profiles were dominated by glutamic acid and aspartic acid, whereas linoleic acid (42-51%) and oleic acid (29-36%) were the major fatty acids, consistent with conventional soybeans. The levels of minerals and antinutrients, including raffinose, stachyose, and phytic acid, were also comparable to the reference ranges. These findings demonstrate that the drought-tolerant GM soybeans DIAT7 and DIAT15 are compositionally and nutritionally equivalent to non-GM soybeans, supporting their substantial equivalence and providing a scientific basis for food and environmental safety evaluation.

In order to assess the substantial equivalence of two varieties of genetically modified rice, herbicide-tolerant Ab rice and the insect-resistant Bt rice, to the non-GM Dongjin-byeo cultivar. We analyzed the compositions and contents of the proximate, amino acids, minerals, fatty acids, vitamins, and anti-nutrients in their unpolished grains using t-test (p<0.05). A comparison of fatty acids compositions showed that the levels of stearic acid and arachidonic acid in Ab rice and those of myristic, palmitic, oleic, linoleic, and gadoleic acid in Bt rice were different significantly from the corresponding levels in Dongjin-byeo. Vitamin content did not differ between Bt and Dongjin-byeo, but the content of vitamins B1, B7, and E in Ab rice differed from that in Dongjin-byeo. Iron content in Ab and Bt rice was 2 times higher than that in Dongjin-byeo, although it was within the reference range set by Codex. The amount of the anti-nutrient trypsin inhibitor was 0.1 TIU/mg in the unpolished grain of all three rice varieties examined. Of the 47 components analyzed, 17 were significantly different among the three rice varieties; however, most of these differences were within the Codex reference range for commercial rice. Overall, it was confirmed that both Bt and Ab rice are substantially equivalent to the Dongjin-byeo and other commercial varieties of rice.

Content of key nutrients and anti-nutrients of the insect-resistant transgenic rice (Btt12R) developed in Korea that contains a cryIIIA insecticidal gene was compared with those of its non-transgenic counterpart (Oryza sative L. cv. Nakdongbyeo). Grains of Btt12R, its parent cultivar, and two commercial rice plants (cv. Yeonganbyeo and Hwaseongbyeo) grown in the adjoining fields under the same environmental conditions and field management were used for this study. Among the analyzed 47 nutrients (8 proximates, 17 amino acids, 8 fatty acids, 9 minerals, and 5 vitamins) and two anti-nutrients (trypsin inhibitors and phytic acid), although the levels of 17 components differed between Nakdongbyeo and Btt12R, all of the measured values from Btt12R were within the ranges of values observed in the two typical Korean varieties and commercial rice provided by the OECD. These results confirm that the nutritional quality of rice grains was not affected by the insertion of the cryIIIA gene.