Abstract:

Identification of animal species will provide a useful approach for supervision of meat adulteration. Yet in China,
little research has been reported on using real-time PCR method to detect duck-derived ingredients in foods. A set of duck-specific
primers and TaqMan probe were designed based on the conserved sequences of duck cyt-b gene, and a RT-PCR method was
established for qualitative and quantitative detection of duck-derived components in meat products. The primers and probe were
highly specific for duck DNA, and the limit of detection was 1.78 pg per reaction. The further quantitative assay revealed that this
method was accurate in quantitative determination of DNA from duck skeletal muscle. Finally, commercial meat products were
measured, and a number of meat adulterations with duck substituting beef or mutton were detected. In summary, this RT-PCR
proved to be a reliable approach in identification of duck ingredients, which could benefit quality control of meat production in China.

Key words: duck ingredients, real-time PCR, meat adulteration, detection method