Development of a Duck Genomic Reference Material by Digital PCR Platforms for the Detection of Meat Adulteration.

Xiaoyun Chen,Xiaoli Xu,Cheng Peng,Junfeng Xu,Xinwu Pei,Xiaofu Wang,Kai Li,Liang Li,Yi Ji

doi:10.3390/foods10081890

Abstract

Low-cost meat, such as duck, is frequently used to adulterate more expensive foods like lamb or beef in many countries. However, the lack of DNA-based reference materials has limited the quality control and detection of adulterants. Here, we report the development and validation of duck genomic DNA certified reference materials (CRMs) through the detection of the duck interleukin 2 (IL2) gene by digital PCR (dPCR) for the identification of duck meat in food products. The certified value of IL2 in CRMs was 5.78 ± 0.51 × 103 copies/μL with extended uncertainty (coverage factor k = 2) based on IL2 quantification by eight independent collaborating laboratories. Quantification of the mitochondrial gene cytb revealed a concentration of 2.0 × 106 copies/μL, as an information value. The CRMs were also used to determine the limit of detection (LOD) for six commercial testing kits, which confirmed that these kits meet or exceed their claimed sensitivity and are reliable for duck detection.

Highlights

Meat adulteration has become a major global issue
In order to establish the protocol for evaluating the duck certified reference material (CRM), we examined the homogeneity of the interleukin 2 (IL2) gene in our gDNA extractions using a random stratified sampling method [27] to select 15 units from among 500 certified reference materials (CRMs) candidate samples
We investigated whether commercially available kits were sufficiently sensitive We investigated whether commercially available kits were sufficiently sensitive to be used for extraction of duck gDNA for comparison with CRMs characterized here

Summary

Introduction

Meat adulteration has become a major global issue. Fraud by substitution or adulteration with inexpensive raw materials poses an attractive shortcut for unscrupulous food producers, it is fraught with potential public health risks [1]. In order to definitely show that a product has been adulterated or fraudulently labeled, the product composition must be first determined for comparison of its authenticity with the description provided on its label. This process requires quantitative analysis of characteristic compounds or analytes specific to the ingredient in question, or other evidence that it is present in concentrations at or above levels required by regulatory agencies [2]. The development of an accurate and reliable method for determining the content of specific meat components in food products has major economic implications and far-reaching social significance

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