COIBar-RFLP Molecular Strategy Discriminates Species and Unveils Commercial Frauds in Fishery Products.

The DNA analysis is the best approach to authenticate species in seafood products and to unveil frauds based on species substitution. In this study, a molecular strategy coupling Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) DNA barcoding with the consolidated methodology of Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (RFLPs), named COIBar-RFLP, was applied for searching pattern of restriction enzyme digestion, useful to discriminate seven different fish species (juveniles of and sold in Italy as "bianchetto" and sold as "rossetto"; icefish ; European perch, and the Nile Perch, striped catfish, ). A total of 30 fresh and frozen samples were processed for DNA barcoding, analyzed against a barcode library of COI sequences retrieved from GenBank, and validated for COIBar-RFLP analysis.

Geographic Pattern of Sushi Product Misdescription in Italy-A Crosstalk between Citizen Science and DNA Barcoding.

The food safety of sushi and the health of consumers are currently of high concern for food safety agencies across the world due to the globally widespread consumption of these products. The microbiological and toxicological risks derived from the consumption of raw fish and seafood have been highlighted worldwide, while the practice of species substitution in sushi products has attracted the interest of researchers more than food safety agencies. In this study, samples of sushi were processed for species authentication using the Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) gene as a DNA barcode.

Fish-Based Baby Food Concern-From Species Authentication to Exposure Risk Assessment.

In this work, two different but complementary approaches were used to evaluate the reliability of fish-based baby foods as a source of safe nourishment for babies. More specifically, barcoding analysis based on the Cytochrome Oxidase I sequences was used for fish species authentication and an analysis of metal/metalloid levels was performed to estimate the exposure risk assessment derived from consumption of selected fish-based baby food in infants and toddlers. COI DNA barcoding revealed that in three samples the species detected did not match the common name of the species shown on the label.

Swordfish or Shark Slice? A Rapid Response by COIBar-RFLP.

Market transparency is in strong demand by consumers, and the authentication of species is an important step for seafood traceability. In this study, a simple molecular strategy, COIBar-RFLP (cytochrome oxidase I barcode-restriction fragment length polymorphism), is proposed to unveil commercial fraud based on the practice of species substitution in the swordfish trade. In particular, COI barcoding allowed the identification of the species , and in slices labeled as .