Detection of chicken and turkey in different beef matrix by species-specific multiplex PCR assay

Abstract

Meat is food compatible with healthy nutrition. It is a useful nutrient at all stages of life and helps to meet the required nutritional intake. Consumers rely on food labelling to decide whether the purchased meat product is safe and reliable. Therefore, it is important to guarantee consumer consumption without fraud. Different methods have been used for this subject. Elisa test has the method adopted by Moroccan reference laboratories, following the spread of scandals concerning the fraud of meat products in Casablanca in 2013. At the same time, other molecular methods have been in development, principally polymerase chain reaction. This work aims to optimize a multiplex PCR test based on a sensitive, specific, and reliable technique to identify the contamination of beef products by chicken and turkey meat and prevent their adulteration. Mitochondrial primers that specifically amplify the genetic regions of cytochrome b and 16S rRNA are used. These primers sequences did not cross-react with DNA isolated from horses, sheep, goats, pigs and dogs. Moreover, this method can detect up to 0,05 ng of DNA per reaction. Verification of the forty samples of commercial meat by this method has shown that almost half of the samples contain unreported meat. Therefore, regulatory authorities can use this easily applicable test in a laboratory with excellent analytical precision in inspections, law enforcement and regulatory compliance.