Canning Processes Reduce the DNA-Based Traceability of Commercial Tropical Tunas
Canned tuna is one of the most widely traded seafood products internationally and is of growing demand. There is an increasing concern over the vulnerability of canned tuna supply chains to species mislabelling and fraud. Extensive processing conditions in canning operations can lead to the degradat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Foods |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/9/10/1372 |
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| author | Carlo Pecoraro Valentina Crobe Alice Ferrari Federica Piattoni Anna Sandionigi Adam J. Andrews Alessia Cariani Fausto Tinti |
| author_facet | Carlo Pecoraro Valentina Crobe Alice Ferrari Federica Piattoni Anna Sandionigi Adam J. Andrews Alessia Cariani Fausto Tinti |
| author_sort | Carlo Pecoraro |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Canned tuna is one of the most widely traded seafood products internationally and is of growing demand. There is an increasing concern over the vulnerability of canned tuna supply chains to species mislabelling and fraud. Extensive processing conditions in canning operations can lead to the degradation and fragmentation of DNA, complicating product traceability. We here employed a forensically validated DNA barcoding tool (cytochrome b partial sequences) to assess the effects of canning processes on DNA degradation and the identification of four tropical tuna species (yellowfin, bigeye, skipjack and longtail tuna) collected on a global scale, along their commercial chains. Each species was studied under five different canning processes i.e., freezing, defrosting, cooking, and canning in oil and brine, in order to investigate how these affect DNA-based species identification and traceability. The highest percentage of nucleotide substitutions were observed after brine-canning operations and were greatest for yellowfin and skipjack tuna. Overall, we found that DNA degradation significantly increased along the tuna canning process for most specimens. Consequently, most of the specimens canned in oil or brine were misidentified due to the high rate of nucleotide substitution in diagnostic sequences. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:00:31Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-29d0d726cf664b26a1cbff6f1fc405a5 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2304-8158 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T16:00:31Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Foods |
| spelling | doaj.art-29d0d726cf664b26a1cbff6f1fc405a52023-11-20T15:15:16ZengMDPI AGFoods2304-81582020-09-01910137210.3390/foods9101372Canning Processes Reduce the DNA-Based Traceability of Commercial Tropical TunasCarlo Pecoraro0Valentina Crobe1Alice Ferrari2Federica Piattoni3Anna Sandionigi4Adam J. Andrews5Alessia Cariani6Fausto Tinti7Physalia-Courses, 10249 Berlin, GermanyDepartment of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 48121 Ravenna, ItalyDepartment of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 48121 Ravenna, ItalyDepartment of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 48121 Ravenna, ItalyDepartment of Electronics Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milano, ItalyDepartment of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 48121 Ravenna, ItalyDepartment of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 48121 Ravenna, ItalyDepartment of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, 48121 Ravenna, ItalyCanned tuna is one of the most widely traded seafood products internationally and is of growing demand. There is an increasing concern over the vulnerability of canned tuna supply chains to species mislabelling and fraud. Extensive processing conditions in canning operations can lead to the degradation and fragmentation of DNA, complicating product traceability. We here employed a forensically validated DNA barcoding tool (cytochrome b partial sequences) to assess the effects of canning processes on DNA degradation and the identification of four tropical tuna species (yellowfin, bigeye, skipjack and longtail tuna) collected on a global scale, along their commercial chains. Each species was studied under five different canning processes i.e., freezing, defrosting, cooking, and canning in oil and brine, in order to investigate how these affect DNA-based species identification and traceability. The highest percentage of nucleotide substitutions were observed after brine-canning operations and were greatest for yellowfin and skipjack tuna. Overall, we found that DNA degradation significantly increased along the tuna canning process for most specimens. Consequently, most of the specimens canned in oil or brine were misidentified due to the high rate of nucleotide substitution in diagnostic sequences.https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/9/10/1372tropical tunasDNA barcodingseafood mislabellingtraceabilityspecies substitution |
| spellingShingle | Carlo Pecoraro Valentina Crobe Alice Ferrari Federica Piattoni Anna Sandionigi Adam J. Andrews Alessia Cariani Fausto Tinti Canning Processes Reduce the DNA-Based Traceability of Commercial Tropical Tunas Foods tropical tunas DNA barcoding seafood mislabelling traceability species substitution |
| title | Canning Processes Reduce the DNA-Based Traceability of Commercial Tropical Tunas |
| title_full | Canning Processes Reduce the DNA-Based Traceability of Commercial Tropical Tunas |
| title_fullStr | Canning Processes Reduce the DNA-Based Traceability of Commercial Tropical Tunas |
| title_full_unstemmed | Canning Processes Reduce the DNA-Based Traceability of Commercial Tropical Tunas |
| title_short | Canning Processes Reduce the DNA-Based Traceability of Commercial Tropical Tunas |
| title_sort | canning processes reduce the dna based traceability of commercial tropical tunas |
| topic | tropical tunas DNA barcoding seafood mislabelling traceability species substitution |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2304-8158/9/10/1372 |
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