| Abstract: | DNA barcoding possesses advantages of high resolution, high sensitivity, and capability in capturing as much identity information as possible. However, highly varying sources of food materials and a complicated supply chain bring about challenge to the application of barcoding methods. In this study, different barcode systems were compared to establish a robust method for tracing animal species in food. Experiments on food samples from mammal, poultry, and fish proved that a mini barcode system targeting a 192 bp COI gene fragment was able to accurately identify both raw and highly processed animal food. In order to distinguish species in a mixed food sample, cloning technique was used by which as low as 10% target animal ingredient could be detected. Testing of marketed food products verified the capability of the mini barcoding method in identifying illegally claimed product. |
