Quantification of ingredients in mixtures

The existence of labelling regulations regarding the compulsory declaration of the amounts of certain ingredients in foods has led to the need to develop techniques to quantify the species present in relatively complex food products.

AZTI-Tecnalia works with modern identification and quantification techniques, which have combined the protection of consumer interests with an effective protection against fraud, and also facilitates the verification of compliance with labelling regulations and the reliability of commercial transactions.

One of the applications used is real-time PCR, a technology that has multiple applications within the food industry:

- Detecting the presence/absence of pathogens, such as salmonella:

• Ingredients, such as the detection of mandarin in orange juice
• Allergens (such as Anisakis in fish products)
• Plasmids (toxic genes, resistance to antibiotics)
• Specific genes (detection of transgenic genes)
• Quality controls (yeast…)

- Absolute Quantification:

• Calculation of the number of copies
• Interpolation in a standard curve (GMOs, ingredients, pathogens)
• Detection and quantification of mixtures: for example in canned tuna (bigeye vs. yellowfin)

- Relative Quantification (gene expression):

• In relation to the quantification of mixtures of ingredients in foods, most research focuses on Real-Time PCR technology using fluorescent probe detection systems with high-resolution optical instruments. Since this technology can monitor the real-time amplification reaction of a DNA fragment using the ingredient as a specific marker, the presence of this ingredient in a food product can be quantified.

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