One drawback of species testing by DNA is that it does not differentiate between poultry meat and egg nor between beef and milk. This can be problematic when authenticating vegetarian food. In this study (purchase required), nine marker peptides for the detection of meat (peptides common across several species) were identified using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). These marker peptides enabled differentiation between meat and other animal products such as milk. The authors verified the technique using 19 commercial vegetarian meat substitutes containing milk and egg. They then tested over a wider sample set and proved the presence of the cross-species meat marker peptides in 19 food-relevant types of mammals and poultry as well as their absence in more than 136 plant-based ingredients for the production of vegan and vegetarian foods. They produced an in-house vegan sausage matrix based on a commercial retail product and spiked with 5.0%, w/w meat to confirm the high signal intensities and the heat stability of the marker peptides.
Photo by Grace O'Driscoll on Unsplash
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