Identification of the species and individual animals in the processed meat products by PCR - based analyses

The aim of the work was to establish and optimize the molecular-genetic methods, which could be used in the Laboratory of Applied Molecular Genetics (LAMGen) at the Department of Genetics MZLU Brno for the monitoring of food products safety.
During the work, the methods of PCR reactions for the detection of cattle, porcine and chicken tissues were optimized and the presence of declared tissues in meat products from the markets was proved. Throughout the identification of individuals in the meat mixture products (after the different technological interventions), we were able to confirm the presence of the concrete head of animal. When accumulating several individuals in the meat mixture, allele composition is more numerous and variable. In this case, it can happen that the alleles, responding to the individual DNA profile, could be found even if a specific individual is not physically present in the mixture. In the meat products, made from animals with available results of fragment analysis, we confirmed the presence of microsatellite alleles corresponding to the specific individuals' data logging. On the other hand, in the products, containing tissues from the animals without available results of fragment analysis, it was in addition possible to identify the microsatellite alleles, which missed in output data logging of analyzed animals.
We concluded, that in the meat products, made from the mixture of large number of animals, the presence of the specific individual can be only excluded, not confirmed.

Keywords: DNA, identification, pig, cattle, chicken, meat

Grants and funding:

Materiál byl zpracován s podporou GAČR No. 523/03/HO76, VZ MSM 432100001, IGA MZLU v Brně č.15/2004, FRVŠ 159/2004.