Monitoring of Red Pepper Powder and Seasoned Red-Pepper Sauce using Species-Specific PCR in Conjunction with Whole Genome Amplification

Abstract

Red pepper is one of the most important spices popularly utilized in Korea. Because of the differences in tariff rates between red pepper powder and seasoned red-pepper sauce, seasoned red-pepper sauce is often therefore imported by consumers, then dried, ground, and added to red pepper powder for cost effective purposed to use the product the most effectively. In this study, we combined species-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays (for red pepper, garlic, onion, spring onion, and ginger) with whole-genome amplification (WGA). Thirty-nine red pepper powders were well in accordance with their labels. However, six red pepper powder and five seasoned redpepper sauce products failed to meet their compliance requirements. As a consequence, our monitoring results revealed that the overall mislabeling rate detected in this study was identified at 22%. Thus, our findings showed that the species-specific PCR in conjunction with WGA was an ideal method to identify raw materials that are used in the manufacturing of red pepper powder and seasoned red-pepper sauce.