Identification of poultry species using polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) and capillary electrophoresis-single strand conformation polymorphism (CE-SSCP) methods

Abstract In the last decades, animal species identification became more important to prevent food adulteration. Here, we demonstrate the identification of seven poultry species, chicken, guinea fowl, pheasant, turkey, goose, duck and muscovy duck, through the use of the polymerase chain reaction-single strand conformation polymorphism (PCR-SSCP) and capillary electrophoresis-single strand conformation polymorphism (CE-SSCP) methods. DNA were isolated from poultry meat and meat products and were amplified with universal primers, designed for the mitochondrial 12S rRNA. Species-specific patterns and the reliable detection limit were identified as 0.5% for PCR and CE applications. Analyses of commercially available poultry products revealed fraud, as 6 of 36 contained undeclared species. The above-mentioned techniques are sensitive, reproducible and reliable for poultry species identification from foodstuffs.