Authentication of meats from quail (Coturnix coturnix), pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), partridge (Alectoris spp.), and guinea fowl (Numida meleagris) using polymerase chain reaction targeting specific sequences from the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based on oligonucleotide primers targeting the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene has been applied to the specific identification of meats from quail (Coturnix coturnix), pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), partridge (Alectoris spp.), and guinea fowl (Numida meleagris). The use of specific primers pairs for quail, pheasant, partridge and guinea fowl allowed the selective amplification of the desired avian sequences. The specificity of each primer pair was verified by PCR analysis of DNA from meats of various game and domestic bird and mammalian species. The assay can be useful for the accurate identification of meats from game bird species, avoiding mislabelling or fraudulent species substitution in meat products.