real-time pcr high-resolution melting analysis for the species identification of meat products: focusing on food safety and detection of meat adulterations

Background: real-time polymerase chain reaction (pcr) and high-resolution melting (hrm) analysis are currently considered as reliable techniques for the species identification of meat-based products and widely used to detect meat adulteration. objectives: to examine the validity of real-time pcr and hrm analysis to identify meat species in meat-based products. methods: meat samples from five species (i.e., cattle, sheep, chicken, turkey, and wild pig) were purchased. minced meat from the animal species of interest was prepared at the purities of 10%, and 20% and also were prepared as single and mixtures of two species. for molecular assessments, dna samples were extracted from all the meat samples and subjected to real-time pcr by amplifying a mitochondrial cytochrome b specific for each species. results: all the meat species studied in this research were successfully detected in the mixed meat samples when separately examined by real-time pcr. high-resolution melting analysis showed that all the meat species of interest were efficiently distinguished when examined simultaneously. conclusions: the data presented here shows that the real-time pcr and hrm analysis are reliable methods for the identification of meat species used in meat products.