Dj. Hunt et al., IDENTIFICATION OF THE SPECIES OF ORIGIN OF RAW AND COOKED MEAT-PRODUCTS USING OLIGONUCLEOTIDE PROBES, Food chemistry, 60(3), 1997, pp. 437-442
simple assay suitable for the routine determination of species composi
tion in admixtures of meat is described. A nonradioactive slot blot hy
bridisation assay using species-specific oligonucleotide probes has be
en developed and applied to the species identification of rabbit, shee
p, pork, beef and goat meats. Clear species discrimination was demonst
rated even between the closely related ruminants goat and sheep. The p
robes were shown to identify species present in both raw and commercia
lly cooked and canned products (e.g. petfood). The potential for semi-
quantitation of species in admixture was demonstrated to a detection l
imit of less than 2.5% adulteration. This DNA assay targets intracellu
lar DNA and can therefore overcome the potential problem of blood and
plasma drip contamination which has led to uncertainty when using solu
ble immunoassays directed towards soluble plasma protein. (C) 1997 LGC
(Teddington) Ltd. Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.