The determination of meat species by PCR-RFLP method using mitochondrial ND4 gene in pastırma, a traditional dry cured meat product

Serhat Al,Yeliz Yildirim,Harun Hizlisoy,Candan Güngör,Fulden Karadal,Nurhan Ertaş Onmaz,Zafer Gönülalan

doi:10.3906/vet-1907-116

Abstract

Pastirma is a high value, traditional, dry cured, and edible coated meat product. For economic and sociocultural reasons, it is important to know which meat species are used in pastirma. The present study aims to carry out the determination of the meat species in pastirma. A total of 144 pastirma samples were collected from different stores. After genomic DNA isolation, the total DNAs obtained were subjected to polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using specially designed novel primers amplifying the mitochondrial ND4 (MTND4) gene region, specific for cattle (Bos taurus), water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), horse (Equus caballus), and donkey (Equus asinus) species. For the identification of the meat species, gel purified 952 bp PCR products were digested with fast digest SaqAI restriction enzymes selected based on preliminary in silico analyses. The results of the present study revealed that all of the pastirma samples were made from cattle meat. Cross-reactions and false-positive identifications are serious problems in routine determination of the meat species in food control laboratories. It is important to perform fast, inexpensive determination with high sensitivity and specificity for the identification of meat species. This study has shown that meat species can be detected with high specificity in products such as pastirma, which uses large pieces of meat cuts.

Highlights

Animal proteins are an essential part of a daily diet in terms of high digestibility and they contain sufficient and balanced essential amino acids [1,2]
In a study performed in the United States, 10 out of 48 analyzed samples of ground meat were found to be mislabeled and contained additional meat species based on real time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) [18]
According to the Turkish food codex, pastırma can only be produced from the meat of cattle or water buffalo

Summary

Introduction

Animal proteins are an essential part of a daily diet in terms of high digestibility and they contain sufficient and balanced essential amino acids [1,2]. Various methods such as salting and drying have been developed for the long-term preservation of meat since ancient times [3]. One of the products made in this way, is an edible coated, wellknown and traditionally dry cured meat product, mostly consumed in the east Mediterranean region, especially in Turkey. There are potential risks such that different meat species including horse and donkey that are not preferred by the society or that are of low quality can be used in the production of pastırma. It is common practice to use meat of different origins to reduce production costs [6,7,8]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion