A SIMPLE METHOD FOR DIFFERENTIATION OF RAW MEAT FROM VARIOUS MEAT ANIMALS - POTENTIAL TECHNIQUE FOR DETECTION OF MEAT ADULTERATION

The present study was undertaken to develop a simple method for the id entification of raw meat obtained from various species, based on repet itive DNA sequences. Genomic DNA was isolated from muscle tissues of c attle, buffalo, sheep and goats and subjected to Eco RI and Pst I rest riction enzyme digestion analysis. The genome of these closely related species of the family Bovidae contained species-specific repetitive D NA sequences. Eco RI digestion revealed 1.4 and 0.7 kb fragments speci fic to cattle, 1.65 and 1.45 kh fragments specific to buffalo, 0.42 an d 0.35 kb bands specific to sheep and 0.6 kb fragment specific to goat genomes. In contrast, Pst I digestion gave rise to a few variable rep etitive bands which are feeble to identify as species specific, apart from their uniform monomorphic pattern. The results apparently demonst rated that raw meat derived from livestock animals of the family Bovid ae can be identified using restriction enzyme analysis. Thus, the prel iminary data suggested that the method seems to be simple and easy to perform for differentiation of meat of these closely related species.