Research of potentially efficient crops in fumigation

Introduction Glucosinolates are a class of compounds found in the plant family Brassicaceae and particularly in rapeseed. They are considered as responsible for the detrimental effects (palatability and toxic symptoms) observed when rapeseed meal is used for feeding (Fenwick et al., 1983). The analysis of glucosinolates appears to be a good evaluation of rapeseed anti-nutritional potential. During the last three decades, analyses of glucosinolates were carried out on rapeseed with various aims: breeding and registration of new cultivars, control of the harvest quality, trading, determination of the feeding value. Several methods were used on seeds or meals, each of them being optimized for the need. A recent example consists in the analysis optimization of rapeseed and mustard plants green parts and roots to predict their bio-fumigation properties (Wathelet et al., 2004). The requirements for the methods of analysis are various: total or individual content, accuracy, rapidity, low cost, test portion size, sensitivity or high-flow. It is the main reason why many methods were optimised, used and among them, some were standardized. This paper will review these methods, highlighting their more interesting characteristics. An overview of the standardization programme in ISO and CEN of the different studies achieved in this framework will be presented. Because of their effect on the method performance, the nature of the glucosinolates and their occurrence in rapeseed will be briefly described.