Use of lambda DNA as a marker to assess DNA stability in olive oil during storage

Filtered olive oil samples spiked with three different concentrations of λDNA were stored at 25 °C under a 12 h photoperiod for up to a year. These samples were used for DNA extraction and PCR amplification of λDNA amplicons of 107, 415 and 691 bp length. The amplification signal was gradually decreased with longer storage periods, while the strength of the signal was related to the initial concentration of spiking λDNA particularly during longer storage periods. The 107 bp amplicon was the only one successfully amplified from all the samples, regardless of both concentration of spiking λDNA and storage period. The amplification of 415 and 691 bp amplicons was not successful for samples stored longer than a threshold period of 20 and 10 days, respectively. These results suggest that detection of polymorphic markers requiring DNA templates shorter than 100 bp might have a wider range of applications in DNA fingerprinting of olive oil. In addition, the DNA extracts were tested for the presence of inhibitors in PCR amplification reactions of yeast DNA amplicons. The inhibitory effect of olive DNA extracts was partial and gradually increased with the storage period of the olive oil samples used for the DNA extraction.