IDENTIFICATION OF THE SPECIES OF ORIGIN OF RAW AND COOKED MEAT-PRODUCTS USING OLIGONUCLEOTIDE PROBES

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.