Malaysian researchers have developed a heptaplex polymerase chain reaction assay targeting short amplicon length (73–198 bp) for the simultaneous detection and differentiation of cow, buffalo, chicken, cat, dog, pig, and fish species in raw and processed food using species-specific primers targeting mitochondrial cytb, ND5, and 16s rRNA genes. The assay was validated using prepared meatballs adulterated with different species and using different process conditions. The detection limit was 0.01–0.001 ng of DNA in the pure state and 0.5% meat in meatball products.
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