Detection and quantification of adulteration in milk and dairy products: A novel and sensitive qPCR-based method

Rodrigo Giglioti; Hiago Polli; Bianca Tainá Azevedo; Luciana Morita Katiki; Anibal Eugênio Vercesi Filho

doi:10.1016/j.fochms.2022.100074

Detection and quantification of adulteration in milk and dairy products: A novel and sensitive qPCR-based method

Food Chem (Oxf). 2022 Jan 10:4:100074. doi: 10.1016/j.fochms.2022.100074. eCollection 2022 Jul 30.

Authors

Rodrigo Giglioti¹, Hiago Polli¹, Bianca Tainá Azevedo¹, Luciana Morita Katiki¹, Anibal Eugênio Vercesi Filho¹

Affiliation

¹ Instituto de Zootecnia, Rua Heitor Penteado, n. 56, Nova Odessa, São Paulo 13380-011, Brazil.

Abstract

Species identification in dairy products has a notable importance in food traceability and adulteration control and consequently has a significant effect on the final economic value of foods. In the present study, we developed a method based on real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) for detection and quantification of cow DNA in DNA samples from milk and dairy products from buffaloes, goats, and sheep. The qPCR reactions showed high specificity, and the amplifications only occurred to species-specific primers. The calibration curves allowed for the quantification of the amount of DNA of each species-specific primer, and the established detection limit was 0.016 ng for the four species. The detection limit of cow DNA in buffalo, goat and sheep DNA samples was 0.1% (0.01 ng). Although the present study aimed to detect and quantify cow DNA in buffalo, goat, and sheep dairy products, we believe that the qPCR assays can also be directed to differentiate and quantify goat × sheep, and/or buffalo × goat/sheep.

Keywords: Adulteration; DNA; Dairy products; Detection; Milk; Quantification.