Find in Library

Cephalopods are very relevant food resources. The common cuttlefish (<i>Sepia officinalis</i>) is highly appreciated by consumers and there is a lack of rapid methods for its authentication in food products. We introduce a new minor groove binding (MGB) TaqMan real-time PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) method for the authentication of <i>S. officinalis</i> in food products to amplify a 122 base pairs (bp) fragment of the mitochondrial COI (Cytochrome Oxidase I) region. Reference and commercial samples of <i>S. officinalis</i> showed a threshold cycle (Ct) mean of 14.40, while the rest of the species examined did not amplify, or showed a significantly different Ct (<i>p</i> &lt; 0.001). The calculated efficiency of the system was 101%, and the minimum DNA quantity detected was 10^&#8722;4 ng. No cross-reactivity was detected with any other species, thus, the designed method differentiates <i>S. officinalis</i> from other species of the genus <i>Sepia</i> and other cephalopod species and works for fresh, frozen, grilled, cooked and canned samples of <i>Sepia</i> spp. The method has proved to be reliable and rapid, and it may prove to be a useful tool for the control of fraud in cuttlefish products.