Species identification of cooked meats by DNA hybridization assay.

Dot-blots hybridization technique has been applied to the detection of species-specific DNA fragments in the cooked meats of chicken, pig, goat, sheep, and beef. The samples were obtained from the meats which were heated for 30 min at 80, 100 or 120°C. The probes, biotin-labeled chromosomal DNA fragments, were hybridized to the sample DNA on nylon membranes. The species of the meats cooked at 100 or 120°C were identified at 100 ng/dot of the sample DNA. The probes for chicken and pig did not show cross-reactivity, but those for the ruminants reacted with other ruminant DNA. Using this method, chicken, pig and beef were detected from 50 mg of the commercial canned products.