PCR-RFLP identification of meat from red deer, sika deer, roe deer, fallow deer, mouflon, wild boar, hare and cattle

Meat authentication is currently a key topic in relation to the quality and safety of food of animal origin at all levels of production and the global distribution chain. New polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphisms (PCR-RFLP) based on digestion of PCR products with two restriction enzymes, MboII and AciI, have been developed for the specific identification of raw and heat-processed meat from red deer (Cervus elaphus), sika deer (Cervus nippon), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), fallow deer (Dama dama), mouflon (Ovis musimon), wild boar (Sus scrofa), hare (Lepus europaeus) and cattle (Bos taurus). The PCR primers were targeted in a well-conserved region of the cytochrome b (CYTB) gene to amplify a 378 bp region of all the analysed species. This simple, rapid and cost-effective method is suitable for identification of the meat of game species and their possible substitution by beef.