Molecular detection of beef adulteration in mutton by duplex polymerase chain reaction

A duplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique was evaluated for detection of beef adulteration in mutton. A total of 22 fresh longissimus dorsi muscle samples each of mutton and beef was collected in December, 2020 from 15 retail shops located in and around Chennai. Meat sample was taken in different proportions (mutton :beef) as 100:0, 90:10, 80:20, 70:30, 60:40, 50:50 and 0:100. PCR amplified with species-specific primers for cytochrome b gene revealed species-specific bands at 331 and 274 bp for mutton and beef, respectively. The primers used in the study amplified the corresponding sequence of cytochrome b gene for the different proportions of meat and beef samples. From the study, it can be concluded that duplex PCR is a reliable technique to detect the adulteration of fresh and adulterated samples of mutton and beef.