Molecular Evaluation of Pork, Beef and Poultry Meat Sold in Nueva Ecija, Philippines for the Presence of Horse (Equus caballus) and Rat (Rattus rattus) DNA Using Polymerase Chain Reaction Assay.

The study aimed to detect traces of horse and rat DNA from meat samples declared as pork, beef and poultry meat being sold in the markets of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. Thirty locally-produced and imported canned and processed meat products were bought from various markets. DNAs were extracted using tissue extraction protocol. The quality and quantity of the extracted DNAs were preliminary evaluated by targeting beta-actin gene through PCR and by nanospectrophotometer, respectively. PCR detection of horse and rat DNA was evaluated using specific primers targeting cyt b gene with an expected amplicon size of 439 and 603 bp, respectively. Results showed no band in 100% of the samples after gel electrophoresis which means that all meat products were tested negative for both horse and rat DNA. This suggests that horse and rat meat were absent in the meat products tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]