Rapid and Sensitive Identification of Horse and Donkey Meat in Iraqi Markets Using SSR and PCR-RFLP Based on Mitochondrial DNA Cytochrome B Gene

This study was carried out at the Genetic Engineering Lab, College of Agriculture, University of Basrah. DNA was extracted from samples containing meat of commercial products in the Basrah markets. The products subjected to analysis using polymerase chain reaction （PCR） with species specific repeat （SSR） and polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism （PCR-RFLP） techniques based on the sequence of the mitochondrial DNA cytochrome b gene （mtDNA cyt b gene）. Then digestion with the Alu l restriction enzyme to establish a differential diagnosis detects and discriminates between meat species and adulteration in the products. SSR primers were applied, has been detected amplification of the encoded gene product, generated 221 bp in some imported minced and canned meat samples. The results show that SSR analysis produced a pattern that allowed a direct identification of horse and donkey meats in some imported minced and canned meat samples （Hana, Monde and Bavaria）. The amplified 359 bp gene of mtDNA cyt b gene from samples in different product was cut using Alu 1 restriction enzyme resulting in restriction fragment length polymorphism （RFLP）. Alu 1 was used to distinguish between the animals meat that belong to the family or one species. The digestion of the PCR product showed differences between products. Where the fragment length generated were 74, 76 and 189 bp. It belonged to horse meat. The fraud was detected in Hana, Monde and Bavaria products available in Basrah markets showing the presence of horse meat in these products that labeled as beef meats 100%. This revealed mtDNA cyt b gene as highly conserved and consequently a good molecular marker for diagnostic studies. Thus, this technique can be applied to food authentication for the identification of different species of animals in food products.

A Solution on Pork Quality Traceability from Farm to Dinner Table in Tianjin City,China

In order to meet government supervision of pork production safety as well as consumer＇s right to know what they buy and protect the public safety of pork food, this study adopts animal identification, intelligent personal digital assistant （PDA） reading and writing, general packet radio service （GPRS）, and other information technologies, proposes a pork tracking and traceability inferstructure based on pork production substrace flow and data flow, designs the metadata structure and related datatbases for farming, slaughtering, and retailing sector based on intensive pig farming and smallhold pig farming, develops three different data-recording systems, and finally establishes a public network platform for the information inquiry in light of ＂the administrative rules on identification and rearing files for animal and poultry＂ in China. The farming process information system supplies early warning for the usage of drugs and feed additives based on data of every individual pig and timely uploading all events data to remote traceability database when pigs are sold; the PDA data collecting system can collect farming events data for pigs fed by farmers and submit to the center database by GPRS; the web-based Tianjin＇s pork traceability platform can integrate all identifications and related pork quality data from farming, slaughtering to marketing by online, and achieve pork tracking from product origin to consumption and tracing in the turnover direction. It is feasible to realize pork quality traceability by identification technologies developed and/or integrated, metadata specifications designed, three data-recording systems deyeloped, and web-inquiring platform established. Some individual technical bottlenecks will be resolved with the development of communication technologies. The full implementation in Tianjin, China, will supply technical support for guaranteeing the quality and safety of pork production and meeting consumer＇s demands.