Detection of Meat Origin (Species) Using Polymerase Chain Reaction

A quick and reliable method for identifying meat origin is developed to ensure species origin of livestock products for consumers. The present study examined the identification of meat sources (duck, chicken, goat, deer, pig, cattle, sheep, and horse) using PCR by exploiting the mitochondrial 12S rRNA and mitochondrial cytochrome b genes. Species-specific primers were designed for some or all mitochondrial 12S rRNA nucleotide sequences to identify meat samples from duck, chicken, goat, and deer. Mitochondrial cytochrome b genes from pig, cattle, sheep, and horse were used to construct species-specific primers, which were used to amplify DNA from different meat samples. Primer sets developed in this study were found to be superior for detecting meat origin when compared to other available methods, for which the discrimination of meat origin was not equally applicable in some cases. Our new development of species-specific primer sets could be multiplexed in a single PCR reaction to significantly reduce the time and labor required for determining meat samples of unknown origin from the 8 species. Therefore, the technique developed in this study can be used efficiently to trace the meat origin in a commercial venture and help consumers to preserve their rights knowing origin of meat products for social, religious or health consciousness.