RAPID SPECIES IDENTIFICATION IN MEAT BY USING SATELLITE DNA PROBES

A fast procedure for species identification in heated meat is describe d. Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was isolated from meat samples by an al kaline extraction method and hybridized to a conjugate of a specific o ligonucleotide and alkaline phosphatase. The oligonucleotide probes ar e based on satellite DNA, tandem-repeated sequences, which are highly specific for species. Probes are developed for the identification of m eat from cattle, sheep/goat, horse, deer, pig, chicken and turkey. Dif ferentiation between closely related species like chicken and turkey i s possible. Admixtures of 1-5% of meat of one species in another could be detected. The complete assay of up to 50 samples takes 4 h. Heated meat samples could be analysed.