DEVELOPMENT OF A MONOCLONAL-ANTIBODY SPECIFIC TO COOKED MAMMALIAN MEATS

Detection of species adulteration in ground meat products is important for consumer protection and food-labeling law enforcement. This study was conducted to develop monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) that can be use d in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for rapid detection of any cooked mammalian meats in cooked poultry products. Soluble musc le proteins extracted from cooked pork cheated at 100 degrees C for 15 min) were used as the antigen to immunize mice for developing the MAb . One that was developed, MAb 2F8 (IgG2b class), strongly reacted with cooked meat of five mammalian species (beef cattle, hogs, sheep, hors e, and deer) but did not react with any cooked poultry (chicken, turke y, and duck) or raw meats. At least 0.5% by weight of pork, beef, lamb , and horse meats in a chicken-based mixture could be detected using a n indirect ELISA with MAb 2F8. The MAb 2F8 is useful in a single initi al screening test to detect the presence of five nonpoultry meat adult erants in cooked poultry products.