Detection of Adulteration of Meat and Meat Products with Buffalo Meat Employing Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay

The primer pair was designed based on mitochondrial D-loop gene for detection of adulteration of buffalo meat in admixed meat and meat products by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. Amplification of 537-bp DNA fragments was observed from buffalo, without any cross-reaction with cattle, sheep, goat, pig, and chicken. The amplification was further confirmed by BamHI restriction enzymes. No adverse effect of processing was found on PCR amplification of buffalo meat DNA extracted from processed meat and meat products, even from meat emulsion autoclaved at 121 degrees C, 20 psi for 15-20 min. The detection limit for buffalo meat was found to be 1% in the admixed meat and meat products; however, very faint and inconsistent results were obtained in autoclaved meat emulsion at 1% level. The developed PCR assay was found to be specific for buffalo and could be a useful tool for detection of meat adulteration.