The occurence of vegetarian products adulteration in Republic of Croatia

Istraživanje je provedeno na 17 uzoraka vegetarijanskih proizvoda sa ciljem utvrđivanja pojavnosti animalne DNA u vegetarijanskim proizvodima. DNA je iz proizvoda izolirana uporabom DNeasy Food Mericon kita (Qiagen, SAD), a odsječci gena karakteristični za animalnu i biljnu DNA dobiveni su multiplex PCR metodom uporabom Biofood Standard kita tvrtke Biotools. Rezultati istraživanja pokazali su da se u dva od ukupno 17 vegetarijanskih proizvoda nalazi animalna DNA iako ona nije deklarirana na proizvodu. Ovo upućuje na visoki stupanj patvorenja u prodaji vegetarijanskih proizvoda na području Republike Hrvatske te potrebu provođenja detaljnije studije u cilju utvrđivanja adulteracije proizvoda na našem područjuThe research was carried out on 17 samples of vegetarian products with the aim of determining incidence of animal DNA in vegetarian products. DNA was isolated from purchased products using DNeasy Food Mericon kit (Qiagen, USA), while gene sequences characteristic for animal and plant DNA were obtained using multiplex PCR with Biofood Standard kit (Biotools, Spain). The results of the investigation showed that two of 17 vegetarian products contain animal DNA, eventhough it was not stated on the declaration of the product. This indicates high incidence of adulteration in Republic of Croatia and a need of performing a thorough investigation on this matter