Identification of sea cucumber species in processed food products by PCR-RFLP method

A PCR-RFLP method has been developed for the identification of 16 commercial sea cucumber species in raw and processed food products. To implement the method, PCR amplification with the 16Sar/16Sbr primers, targeted to the amplification of a ca. 570 bp region of the 16S rRNA mitochondrial gene in sea cucumbers, was coupled to restriction analysis with Dde I, Hae III and Sty I. We also report the FINS method based on 16S rRNA mitochondrial sequences. Both proposed methodologies were independently applied to authenticate the species of 19 commercial products, showing that 9 products were incorrectly labeled (48%). Therefore, the 16S rRNA mitochondrial gene really provide convenient, useful and academic molecular marker to study questions related to correct labeling of commercial products, traceability, and the control of sea cucumber fisheries.