Identification of chicken, duck, pigeon and pig meat by species-specific markers of mitochondrial origin

In the present study, PCR based method for meat species identification of chicken, duck, pigeon and pig was achieved by developing species-specific markers. Using mitochondrial sequences species-specific primers were designed and the sizes of them were 256 bp, 292 bp, 401 bp and 835 bp for chicken, duck, pigeon and pig, respectively. The species-specific PCR products were sequenced to confirm the specificity of the product amplified. These markers were subsequently tested for cross amplification by checking them with beef, mutton, chevon, pork, rabbit, chicken, duck, turkey and pigeon meat. DNA markers developed in this study can help identify the species of fresh, cooked and autoclaved meat of chicken, duck and pigeon and fresh and cooked meat of pig. The process of identification is simple, economical and quick as compared to other methods such as RAPD, PCR-RFLP and sequencing method of species identification.