Authentication of Salted-dried Fish Species Using Polymerase Chain Reaction-Single Strand Conformational Polymorphism and Restriction Analysis of Mitochondrial DNA

Molecular techniques, including restriction fragment length polymorphism(RFLP) and polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformational polymorph isms(PCR-SSCP), were developed to identify salted, dried threadfin(Eleutheronema tetradactylum) and white herring(Ilisha elongata) fish. Using PCR with universal primers, conserved 367-bp fragments of the cytochrome b gene were amplified from fresh fish samples and sequenced. The sequences were then searched for specific restriction sites. The digestion of the PCR products with the endonucleases AvaI, FokI, MboII, and MspI generated RFLP, which was used to identify the commercial products. Similarly, the amplified PCR-SSCP products were developed and the products tested. Overall, similar patterns were found in the majority of the fresh and processed products. Based on the results, both RFLP and PCR-SSCP were useful in determining and validating the authenticity of the fish species used to prepare the commercial salted, dried products. A similar approach can be applied to other species.