Short communicationDevelopment of primer set for the identification of fish species in surimi products using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis

•Efficient marker was developed to identify the fish species from processed food.•A method for the identification of fish species using DGGE has been developed.•DGGE profiles revealed the presence of a variety of fish species in surimi products.

The purpose of this study was to develop a DNA marker for the identification of fish species in processed surimi products. A DNA marker was designed based on the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene, and fish species in surimi products were identified using a molecular fingerprinting technique, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE); the results were subjected to sequence-based analysis. The DGGE profiles indicated the presence in surimi products of a greater diversity of fish species than reported previously: 20 species belonging to 16 genera were identified. Therefore, our method facilitates the simple and rapid detection and identification of fish species in seafood products produced from minced fish.