Nama : Muhammad Rizqi Alfian

NIM : J1A021082

Recent Patents for Detecting the Species of Origin in Animal Feedstuff,

and Raw and Processed Meat Products
The importance of food traceability and source/product labeling is mainly due to health safety issues
and/or product/process quality certification. Although recent technological advances have led to more
sensitive techniques for food traceability, mislabeling of food products, intentional or unintentional, is still a
major concern in world trade. Identification of the species origin of raw meat and meat products is very
important to protect producers and consumers from trade fraud. There are three levels at which specific
controls for food traceability can be established. These levels correspond to different stages in the
production of the food chain, and include feed ingredients for breeding animals, fresh or minimally
processed meat, and highly processed meat products.
Feed ingredients for animal breeding: in 1986, there was a general warning about animal feeding
because of its potential implications for human health. As a result, some countries prohibit or strictly control
the use of artificial foods with products of mammalian origin as a source of protein in animal feed rations.
Fresh meat or minimally processed meat products: Characterization testing of fresh meat and
minimally processed food products can be used for various reasons, including health, economy, and religion.
Usually, adulteration is carried out for economic reasons, using meat sources of lower economic value or
wild species, such as using horse meat or wild boar in beef products. On the other hand, some religious
traditions do not allow eating meat of certain species, such as pork for Muslims and Jews or beef for Hindus.
Other communities may have special eating restrictions due to cultural trends.
Processed meat products: highly processed products cause major disruption of tissue structure and
molecular denaturalization and degradation of proteins and DNA. Therefore, traceability and identification
techniques face great challenges associated with changing the original product by food processing. These
challenges make processed meat products more vulnerable to counterfeiting or fraud. This has been
confirmed by before.
One of the main difficulties in species identification is that the markers used must be specific and,
therefore, must have a limited variety and be well characterized. Early molecular methods included the
detection of certain species-specific components. Furthermore, stable proteins during meat aging and
slightly degraded proteins during food processing can also be used to differentiate meat species by 2D gel
electrophoresis. In addition, peptides that are not significantly affected by cooking and heat treatment can
also be used to detect quantitatively, using Mass Spectrometry, contaminants in feed ingredients or highly
processed foods. Compared with new molecular methods, the use of proteomic strategies to detect
protein/peptide biomarkers is limited in meat science.
Various types of DNA polymorphisms and several techniques have been used for species-specific
identification, including RAPD, RFLP, or Primer Specific PCR. Considering that there is a quantitative
relationship between the amount of DNA in the sample and the amount of PCR product at a given cycle
number, and that the exponential phase is the optimal point for analyzing the data, RT-PCR improves
sensibility and allows quantification. Although currently DNA-based methods are the most widely used
approach in this field, since species-specific identification is usually carried out using highly graded DNA
from processed food, this method may be prone to false-negative results.
Recent patents for the detection of species-specific meat using DNA or RNA detection through several
types of PCR techniques. However, there have been several patents filed in recent years that use specific
antibodies (Ab) or monoclonal antibodies (MoAb) to detect the source of cooked or heated meat species and
meat products. Hsieh & Chen developed MoAb for a specific muscle protein (Troponine I) that can
distinguish a large number of animal species, detecting contamination levels of less than 1%. This patent
describes a method for differentiating caviar species using universal sal mtDNA primers. Techniques can
also be categorized based on the type of technology/primary used (PCR or RT-PCR/specific or universal).
DNA and RNA analysis have proven useful for detecting the presence of certain species in various
samples, particularly animal feed ingredients, as well as raw and processed meat. RT-PCR has also been
used to detect quantitatively, and very precisely, mixtures of compounds from different species or the
presence of contaminants in meat. These technological advances in addition to the latest techniques in whole
genome sequencing, have led to the development of new and more robust methods for the analysis of food
products.