Abstract
In this study, we report a new approach for the detection of ovine and caprine DNA in meat and dairy products using real-time PCR protocol. Our new approach is based on the use of endogenous control and species-specific TaqMan fluorescence probes. With this methodology, we specifically detected ovine and caprine DNA in meat and dairy products, with limits of detection of 0.001 ng and 0.01 ng for fresh and processed ovine meats, respectively, and 0.00025 ng, 0.005 ng, and 0.01 ng for caprine meat, milk, and cheese, respectively. Artificial meat and milk mixtures from sheep and goat were used to validate the protocol. Our results support that TaqMan real-time PCR with endogenous control is an efficient and accurate method to detect DNA from sheep and goat in meat and dairy products.