Identification of commercial meats from Amazonas, Peru using PCR-RFLP of mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene

Josué Tafur-Culqui,Martha S Calderon,Danilo E Bustamante

doi:10.1590/1981-6723.27419

Josué Tafur-Culqui, Martha S Calderon + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/1981-6723.27419

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Abstract

Abstract The use of analytical methodologies based on DNA (e.g. PCR-RFLP) to determine the authenticity of different types of meat products after the initial labeling is pivotal to avoid fraudulent practices due to the increased rates of meat consumption. Our PCR-RFLP of mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene using restriction enzymes (AluI and ApoI) aimed to confirm the accuracy of the meat species labeling, based on fresh and processed meat collected in central markets along the main cities in the Amazonas Region (Bagua, Bagua Grande, Chachapoyas, Luya, Pedro Ruiz, Rodriguez de Mendoza). Our analyses qualitatively identified and differentiated three commercial species of fresh meat (bovine, porcine, ovine) and also found the substitution of goat by sheep meat. Regarding processed meat, its composition was uncertain and further analyses should be addressed to determine the meat origin. Monitoring using DNA-based analytical methods of meat trade is suggested to determine fraudulent practices, such as species substitution in markets along regions of Peru.

Highlights

The changes in consumer attitudes towards health and nutrition has generated a tremendous growth in meat consumption over the past several years (Rojas & García, 2007; Sumathi et al, 2015)
The mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene fragment was clearly amplified in all samples of the fresh meat by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using universal and specific primers
The patterns of the restriction bands for the goat meat resulted in the same bands for AluI and ApoI as ovine samples. These results showed that fresh meat samples correspond to the initial meat species labeling, except for meat samples tagged as goat, in which the restrictions bands agreed with sheep meat

Summary

Introduction

The changes in consumer attitudes towards health and nutrition has generated a tremendous growth in meat consumption over the past several years (Rojas & García, 2007; Sumathi et al, 2015). Approaches based on DNA to identify species is well established and widely used in food analysis because DNA offers advantages over proteins, due to its stability at high temperature, its presence in all tissue types, and greater variation with genetic code (Mackie, 1996; Asensio et al, 2002; Sumathi et al, 2015). These DNA molecular methods are highly specific, reliable, efficient and sensitive (Sawicki et al, 2006)

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