<p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Nutritional Data</b></p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">Papaya is a tropical fruit crop that is normally consumed fresh and is valued as a rich source of vitamins A and C. In assessing the nutritional composition, samples of fruit from transgenic and non-transgenic control plants were analyzed for vitamins A and C, and total soluble solids (TSS), which is a measure of sugar content. In some cases, the levels of TSS were compared between PRSV-infected fruit and non-infected fruit.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">For plants grown in PRSV-infested locations, there was a slightly higher observed level of TSS in transgenic fruit than in PRSV-infected non-transgenic fruit. This difference was not observed when comparisons to non-infected non-transgenic fruit were made.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">The vitamin A content of transgenic line 55-1 was comparable to other red-pigmented varieties of papaya and was within the range normally reported for several commercial papaya varieties. Vitamin C content was observed to by slightly lower in transgenic line 55-1 compared to non-transgenic papayas, but was within the range reported for papaya in the literature. Because a number of factors, including ripeness of fruits and growing conditions, can affect vitamin content, this variation was not considered a significant concern. The amount of vitamin C in line 55-1 represents a high level of vitamin C for a food product (49.4-53.6 mg/100g).</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Endogenous Toxicants</b></p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">The presence of benzyl isothiocyanate (BITC) in the latex of green papaya tissues has been linked to incidents of spontaneous abortions in pregnant women and with a higher incidence of prostate cancer in Japanese men over the age of 70. Because ripe papaya fruits have no latex they also have virtually no BITC content, and, therefore, the consumption of ripe fruit would not be expected to be linked to any abortifactant effects. The levels of BITC were measured by gas chromatography in extracts from immature and ripe fruits obtained from transgenic papaya and three varieties of non-transgenic control papayas, and there were no significant differences observed between samples derived from transgenic or non-transgenic plants, respectively. It was noted that the isothiocyanate concentrations in ripe papaya fruits are 10 to 100 times lower than similar values reported for other foods, such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage.</p>

<p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Toxicity and Allergenicity</b></p>

<p style="text-align: justify;">There is a history of safe consumption of PRSV CP derived from virus-infected papaya fruit, and there is no indication that the form of the CP expressed in transgenic papaya is materially different in any way that would affect its potential for toxic or allergenic effect. Additionally, the PRSV CP does not possess any of the physiochemical properties normally associated with protein allergens or toxins, such as heat stability and resistance to digestion by simulated gastric fluids. Also, there were no regions of homology when the deduced amino acid sequence of PRSV CP was compared to the amino acid sequences of known protein allergens or toxins.</p>
