Methods for detection and quantification of gelatin from different sources

Gelatin is a water-soluble protein obtained from the collagen of various animal origins (porcine, bovine, fish, donkey, horse, and deer hide) and has diverse applications in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetics industries. Porcine and bovine gelatins are extensively used in food and non-food products; however, their acceptance is limited due to religious prohibitions, whereas fish gelatin is accepted in all religions. In Southeast Asia, especially in China, gelatin obtained from donkey and deer skins is used in medicines. However, both sources suffer from adulteration (mixing different sources of gelatin) due to their limited availability and high cost. Unclear labeling and limited information about actual gelatin sources in gelatin-containing products cause serious concern among societies for halal and fraud authentication of gelatin sources. Therefore, authenticating gelatin sources in gelatin-based products is challenging due to close similarities between the composition differences and degradation of DNA and protein biomarkers in processed gelatin. Thus, different methods have been proposed to identify and quantify different gelatin sources in pharmaceutical and food products. To the best of our knowledge, this systematic and comprehensive review highlights different authentication techniques and their limitations in gelatin detection and quantification in various commercial products. This review also describes halal authentication and adulteration prevention strategies of various gelatin sources, mainly focussing on research gaps, challenges, and future directions in this research area.

Development of a real-time PCR protocol for the detection of chicken DNA in meat products

Food falsification is a pressing issue in today's food industry, with fraudulent substitution of costly ingredients with cheaper alternatives occurring globally. Consequently, developing straightforward and efficient diagnostic systems to detect such fraud is a top priority in scientific research. The aim of the work was to develop a test system and protocol for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) to detect in food products of animal origin the substitution of expensive meat raw materials for by-products of poultry processing. For this, real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was used, which allows determining the qualitative and quantitative substitution in raw and technologically prepared products. Other methods for detecting falsification - enzyme immunoassay (ELISA/ELISA) or express methods in the form of a lateral flow immunoassay are less informative. The extraction of nucleic acids for real-time polymerase chain reaction depends on the source matrix, with higher concentrations obtained from germ cells and parenchymal organs. Extraction from muscle and plant tissues is more challenging, but thorough grinding of these samples improves nucleic acid concentration by 1.5 times using DNA extraction kits. The selection of primers and fluorescent probes through GenBank and PCR Primer Design/DNASTAR software enables efficient amplification and identification of target chicken DNA fragments in various matrices.

Meat Authenticity Made Easy: DNA Extraction-Free Rapid Onsite Detection of Duck and Pork Ingredients in Beef and Lamb Using Dual-Recombinase-Aided Amplification and Multiplex Lateral Flow Strips

Meat adulteration is a major global concern that poses a threat to public health and consumer rights. However, current detection techniques, such as quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, are time-consuming and require sophisticated equipment. In this study, we developed a rapid onsite identification method for animal-derived ingredients by utilizing a fast nucleic acid lysis buffer to expedite the release of sample nucleic acids and combined it with dual-recombinase-aided amplification (dual-RAA) technology and visual multiplex lateral flow strips (MLFSs). Our method successfully detected duck- and bovine-derived, porcine- and bovine-derived, duck- and ovine-derived, and porcine- and ovine-derived meat in a rapid 20 min onsite detection assay, with a detection limit of 101 copies/50 μL reaction system for target genes. Moreover, our method accurately detected adulterated meat with proportions as low as 1:999. These findings have significant implications for food safety and the protection of consumer rights.

Droplet digital PCR versus real-time PCR for in-house validation of porcine detection and quantification protocol: An artificial recombinant plasmid approach

Authenticity and traceability are essential for modern food and medicine inspection, and reliable techniques are important for the trade of halal foods, which reach more than 20 percent of the world market. A sensitive and accurate porcine detection method is required to develop a conformity assessment system that includes laboratory testing for porcine-free certification. This study proposes a procedure that could be incorporated into the development of a standardized control and protocol for real-time PCR (qPCR) methods and their traceability using droplet digital PCR (ddPCR). The design used a recombinant pUC57 plasmid as an amplification target to carry the 97 bp fragment of the porcine ATCB gene. The absolute quantification and linearity assessment showed high precision with R2 values of 0.9971 and 0.9998 for qPCR and ddPCR, respectively. In general, both methods showed comparable results in terms of linearity and detection limit. However, both limit of detection assessments showed high sensitivity, although ddPCR showed a slightly higher sensitivity than that of qPCR, especially at low DNA concentrations. Multiple-sample and inter-participatory testing evaluations revealed a high sensitivity, broad applicability, and robustness of the qPCR method. Therefore, we conclude that based on a recombinant plasmid analysis with a low quantity (less than five copy number), the digital PCR method produced more reliable results. These results could provide scientific information for regulatory authorities, especially those in Indonesia, to consider the development and formulation of a well-established qPCR protocol for porcine detection using expected DNA concentrations.

DNA-based detection of pork content in food

Determination of halal food is essential in ensuring the tranquillity of consumers, especially Muslims. Halal products mean they are free from prohibited ingredients according to Islamic law. One ingredient that is prohibited is food products containing pork and its derivatives. An accurate verification method with a fast result is necessary to meet this requirement for halal food. DNA quantification of pork is now believed to be able to make accurate and quick decisions, as DNA acts as a reservoir or biological characterization of all living things, including pigs, according to specific characteristics of molecular and connection settings. Various DNA-based methods developed include PCR, biosensor and CRISPR methods. This review discussed various DNA-based Keywords: biosensor, CRISPR, detection, DNA, pork, PCR methods, including PCR, biosensor and CRISPR, to detect pork content in food. Among these methods, CRISPR is considered the easiest, fastest and most accurate. Therefore, it is important to develop this method further in the future. In this article, we provide a short review on DNA-based methods for detection of pork content in food products.

Adoption of analytical technologies for verification of authenticity of halal foods - a review

Halal authentication has become essential in the food industry to ensure food is free from any prohibited ingredients according to Islamic law. Diversification of food origin and adulteration issues have raised concerns among Muslim consumers. Therefore, verification of food constituents and their quality is paramount. From conventional methods based on physical and chemical properties, various diagnostic methods have emerged relying on protein or DNA measurements. Protein-based methods that have been used in halal detection including electrophoresis, chromatographic-based methods, molecular spectroscopy and immunoassays. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) are DNA-based techniques that possess better accuracy and sensitivity. Biosensors are miniatured devices that operate by converting biochemical signals into a measurable quantity. CRISPR-Cas is one of the latest novel emerging nucleic acid detection tools in halal food analysis as well as quantification of stable isotopes method for identification of animal species. Within this context, this review provides an overview of the various techniques in halal detection along with their advantages and limitations. The future trend and growth of detection technologies are also discussed in this review.

Why the importance of geo-origin tracing of edible bird nests is arising?

Edible bird's nest (EBN) swiftlet existed naturally 48,000 years ago in caves as their natural dwellings. Nowadays, edible bird's nest has become a very important industry due to its high nutritional, medicinal and economic value. Additionally, edible bird's nest has a long quality guarantee period. Obviously, the nutritional components and medicinal functions vary depending on geographical origins. Recently, the global demand for edible bird's nest has markedly increased, accompanied by the increasing attention of all key players of the global food trade system, i.e., producers, consumers, traders and the authorities to obtain safe and high-quality edible bird's nest. Hence, this target can be accomplished via the enforcement of an efficient and universal geo-tracing technique. Current methods of the geo-tracking of edible bird's nest, i.e., automation, physical and analytical techniques have several limitations and all of them fail to discriminate different quality grades of edible bird's nest. Meanwhile, in many studies and applications, polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) has proven to be a "cutting edge" technique for greatly enhance food traceability from field to fork through its ability in distinguishing the food products in terms of their quality and safety. This article provides an overview of (1) edible bird's nest as a multiuse strategic food product, (2) quality issues associated with edible bird's nest including implications that the site of acquisition of the edible bird's nest has food safety implications, (3) current regulations and geo-tracking approaches to ensure the safety and quality of edible bird's nest with the special focus on polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis technique as a vigorous and universal geo-tracing tool to be suggested for edible bird's nest geo-traceability.

Rapid Full-Cycle Technique to Control Adulteration of Meat Products: Integration of Accelerated Sample Preparation, Recombinase Polymerase Amplification, and Test-Strip Detection

Verifying the authenticity of food products is essential due to the recent increase in counterfeit meat-containing food products. The existing methods of detection have a number of disadvantages. Therefore, simple, cheap, and sensitive methods for detecting various types of meat are required. In this study, we propose a rapid full-cycle technique to control the chicken or pig adulteration of meat products, including 3 min of crude DNA extraction, 20 min of recombinase polymerase amplification (RPA) at 39 °C, and 10 min of lateral flow assay (LFA) detection. The cytochrome B gene was used in the developed RPA-based test for chicken and pig identification. The selected primers provided specific RPA without DNA nuclease and an additional oligonucleotide probe. As a result, RPA-LFA, based on designed fluorescein- and biotin-labeled primers, detected up to 0.2 pg total DNA per μL, which provided up to 0.001% w/w identification of the target meat component in the composite meat. The RPA-LFA of the chicken and pig meat identification was successfully applied to processed meat products and to meat after heating. The results were confirmed by real-time PCR. Ultimately, the developed analysis is specific and enables the detection of pork and chicken impurities with high accuracy in raw and processed meat mixtures. The proposed rapid full-cycle technique could be adopted for the authentication of other meat products.

Current analytical methods for porcine identification in meat and meat products

Authentication of meat products is critical in the food industry. Meat adulteration may lead to religious apprehensions, financial gain and food-toxicities such as meat allergies. Thus, empirical validation of the quality and constituents of meat is paramount. Various analytical methods often based on protein or DNA measurements are utilized to identify meat species. Protein-based methods, including electrophoretic and immunological techniques, are at times unsuitable for discriminating closely related species. Most of these methods have been replaced by more accurate and sensitive detection methods, such as DNA-based techniques. Emerging technologies like DNA barcoding and mass spectrometry are still in their infancy when it comes to their utilization in meat detection. Gold nanobiosensors have shown some promise in this regard. However, its applicability in small scale industries is distant. This article comprehensively reviews the recent developments in the field of analytical methods used for porcine identification.