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131 Int'l J. Legal Med. 1 (2017)

handle is hein.journals/injlegame131 and id is 1 raw text is: Int J Legal Med (2017) 131:1-19 DOI 10.1007/s00414-016-1460-y REVIEW Poisonous or non-poisonous plants? DNA-based tools and applications for accurate identification Valerio Mezzasalmal Ioannis Ganopoulos2'3 Andrea Galimbertil Laura Cornara4- Emanuele Ferri Massimo Labra': Received: 1 July 2016 /Accepted: 5 October 2016 /Published online: 30 October 2016 C Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016 Abstract Plant exposures are among the most frequently reported cases to poison control centres worldwide. This is a growing condition due to recent societal trends oriented towards the consumption of wild plants as food, cosmetics, or medicine. At least three general causes of plant poisoning can be identified: plant misidentification, introduction of new plant- based supplements and medicines with no controls about their safety, and the lack of regulation for the trading of herbal and phytochemical products. Moreover, an efficient screening for the occurrence of plants poisonous to humans is also desirable at the different stages of the food supply chain: from the raw material to the final transformed product. A rapid diagnosis of intoxication cases is necessary in order to provide the most reliable treatment. However, a precise taxonomic characteriza- tion of the ingested species is often challenging. In this review, we provide an overview of the emerging DNA-based tools and technologies to address the issue of poisonous plant identifica- tion. Specifically, classic DNA barcoding and its applications using High Resolution Melting (Bar-HRM) ensure high universality and rapid response respectively, whereas High Massimo Labra massimo.labra @unimib.it ZooPlantLab, Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, P.za Della Scienza 2, 20126 Milan, Italy 2 Institute of Applied Biosciences, CERTH, Thermi, Thessaloniki 570 01, Greece a Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki 54 124, Greece 4 DISTAV, University di Genova, Corso Europa 26, 16132 Genoa, Italy s FEM2 Ambiente s.r.l., P.za della Scienza 2, 20126 Milan, Italy Throughput Sequencing techniques (HTS) provide a complete characterization of plant residues in complex matrices. The pros and cons of each approach have been evaluated with the final aim of proposing a general user's guide to molecular identifi- cation directed to different stakeholder categories interested in the diagnostics of poisonous plants. Keywords Alkaloids . DNA barcoding . Food supply chain. Molecular identification . Poison centres . Secondary metabolites What are poisonous plants? The relationship between plants and animals, including humans, has always been a difficult issue to define due to the high variability of organism interactions, even including their reciprocal effects on individual metabolisms. Being primary producers, plants have always been at the basis of human nutrition, even before domestication and the advent of agriculture. It is estimated that at least 7000 species of plants have been used for consumption in human history, yet fewer than 20 species and related cultivars and varieties now provide 90 % of global food demand (FAO data). Although there are several species with seeds and fruits rich in nutrients, most of these contain indigestible parts or secondary metabo- lites that could be poisonous to humans and animals. On the whole, plant biodiversity should not be intended as a food resource only, but also as a poison source deserving accurate investigations to prevent human health problems. A frequent- ly asked question is: how we can recognize poisonous plants? There is no simple answer but one of the most adopted ap- proaches is the characterization of toxic metabolites and of their effects on other organisms. The World Health Organization (WHO) identifies four toxicity classes based ' Springer Crs~r

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