Porcine DNA Detection in Finished Meat Products Using Different Mitochondrial DNA (mt-DNA) on Polymerase Chain reaction

Azhana Hamzah

doi:10.4172/2155-9600.1000323

Abstract

This study was conducted to detect the presence of porcine DNA in meat products in the market using different mitochondrial (mt) DNA on conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Porcine DNA detection in meat products was tested due to some issues associated with the adulteration of food products in Malaysia. This is an important issue especially for Halal authentication which is required for some religious practices such as in Islam and Hinduism. Many techniques have been developed for determining the Halal status of food products. In this paper, Polymerase Chain Reaction method was used to detect the presence of porcine DNA in meat products. Positive and negative controls were always present for each batch of extraction. DNA of raw pork meat was used as a positive control while nucleus free water is used as negative control. DNA of meat products was amplified by using species-specific primer namely mtATP6 with band size of 83-bp and Pork1 and Pork2 with band size of 531-base pair (bp) mitochondrial (mt) DNA D-loop primer to detect pork species. The present study demonstrated that none of the samples were contaminated with porcine residuals but selected samples with pork meat were positive. The species-specific PCR amplification yielded excellent results for identification of pork derivatives in food products and it is a potentially reliable and suitable technique in routine food analysis for Halal certification

Highlights

Diversity is one of many very desirable characteristics of processed muscle foods
According to Nakyinsige [2] porcine derivatives used in the meat processing industry include; pork fat, mechanically recovered meats (MRM), porcine gelatine and porcine blood plasma
A total of 31 (n=31) samples randomly selected from supermarket in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur area which are finished meat product; and two of them made from pork meat; pork sausages and breakfast meatball

Summary

Introduction

Processed meats consist of sausages, cured and smoked, non-comminuted meats (ham and bacon), restructured products, and canned products. Processed meats can be successfully manufactured from beef, pork, lamb, venison, chicken, turkey, and seafood [1]. The major authenticity concerns for Muslim consumer in meat and meat products include pork substitution, undeclared blood plasma, using prohibited ingredients, pork intestine casings and non-halal method of slaughter [2]. Food manufactures choose to use porcine derivatives because they are cheap and readily available [3]. Pork and its derivative are Haram (unlawful or prohibited) to be consumed by muslims. According to Nakyinsige [2] porcine derivatives used in the meat processing industry include; pork fat (lard), mechanically recovered meats (MRM), porcine gelatine and porcine blood plasma

Objectives

Methods

Results