Self‐signal‐on fluorescent colorimetric protocol for rapid authentication of horsemeat adulterated beef samples with functional designed probes

• DOI: 10.1111/ijfs.14068
• Publication Date: 2019-02-04T04:11:03Z
• Authors: Panzhu Qin; Dongqing Qiao; Yan Gao; Li Yao; Jianfeng Lu; Jianguo Xu; Wei Chen
• Keywords: 2. Zero hunger; 01 natural sciences; 0104 chemical sciences

SummaryRapid authentication of meat adulteration is of great importance for food safety. A new FRET‐based self‐signal‐on fluorescent colorimetric PCR approach for rapid, sensitive and specific identification of horsemeat ingredient has been developed. A specific hairpin probe was designed and integrated with the forward primer for the detection of horsemeat. This specific hairpin sequence was designed to generate fluorescent signal only when primers are incorporated into the formation of double‐stranded PCR product. The fluorescent signal of the PCR product is in a linear relationship with the proportion of horsemeat ingredient, and could be used for the quantitative detection of horsemeat ingredient in meat products without any post‐treatment or analysis of the amplicons. Based on the fluorescent signal intensity, rapid and convenient detection of horsemeat ingredient in beef products was successfully achieved with satisfied specificity and sensitivity.