Development and Evaluation of Elisa Kits Based on Proteomics Technology for Detection and Semi-Quantification of Meat Species Adulteration

Purpose: This study aimed to develop ELISA kits for the detection of meat species adulteration in raw and processed meat and evaluate its specificity and sensitivity. Method: We identify the unique peptide markers based on the proteomics approach. Subsequently, we prepared specific antisera for beef, pork, horse, sheep, chicken and developed ELISA kits. Results: Evaluation of the developed kits in testing crooked reference sample mixtures revealed that the developed ELISA kits showed 100% specificity with no cross-reactivity detected for the non-target species. In terms of sensitivity, the developed ELISA kits were able to consistently detect pork in the sample mixtures and horses at levels down to 5% w/w. Although sheep and chicken were detected at levels as low as 1% w/w. The beef-specific ELISA test showed greater sensitivity. Conclusions: It is concluded that the developed ELISA kits are a promising tool but further studies are still required for validation of the developed kits and comparing its results with the commercially used kits before entry into the production phase.