The development of rapid in-situ tests without the need for sophisticated laboratory methods for screening ingredients/food for authenticity is increasing in use in the food industry. This study developed a rapid lateral flow immunoassay for identifying meat species in raw, heat processed and commercial meat products and offal. Firstly, a simple extraction protocol was developed for the efficient recovery of meat proteins, which was field-deployable. The extract was placed on a sandwich-format lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) based on gold nanoparticles as labels and immunoglobulins (IgG and IgY) as biomarkers for meat species identification in raw and cooked meat mixes. The whole procedure for extraction and identification took only 15 minutes in total, and had a high sensitivity. The assay was validated both internally and inter-laboratory testing and by real-time PCR.
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