Detection of ovine milk adulteration using taqman real-time pcr assay

Food safety, quality and composition have become the subjects of increasing public concern. To prevent fraud and enhance quality assurance, credible analysis of dairy products is crucial. Bovine milk is more widely available and cheaper than milk of sheep and goat. Bovine milk is also processed in large quantities to produce a range of dairy produce. DNA-based methods have proven to be more reliable, because of the stability of DNA under the conditions of high temperature, high pressure, and chemical treatment used during the processing of some food products. The commercial InnuDETECT cheese assay based on the principle TaqMan real-time PCR systems have been tested for the identification and quantification of bovine DNA in ovine milk samples. DNA was extracted using the InnuPREP DNA Mini Kit and quantified by the QuantiFluor dsDNA system. The assay showed good linearity, with correlation coefficient of R2 = 0.983 and efficiency of 86%. The internal control amplified fragment from different mammalian species (cow, sheep and goat), with similar CT values. Detection of bovine DNA in milk mixtures was achieved even in samples containing 0.5% of bovine milk. The InnuDETECT cheese assay has been successfully used to measure bovine DNA in ovine milk, and will prove useful for bovine species identification and quantitative authentication of animal-derived products