In-house and interlaboratory validation of a method for the extraction of DNA from pollen in honey

In this work, the in-house and interlaboratory validation of a DNA extraction method from pollen in an unifloral rape honey as well as several multifloral honeys is described. The amplifiability of plant and rape DNA amplifiable by real-time PCR was used as a parameter for the evaluation of the method. The practical (i.e., relative) limit of detection was used as a tool for assessing the suitability of the extraction method for further GMO analysis. In a collaborative study with 14 participating labs the results of the in-house validation could be confirmed. The amount of amplifiable plant and rape DNA varied depending on the type of honey. For rape honey, a mean practical LOD of 0.12 % was obtained.