Comparison of SNP-based detection assays for food analysis: Coffee authentication.

Recently, DNA-based authentication methods were developed to serve as complementary approaches to analytical chemistry techniques. The single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based reaction chemistries, when combined with the existing detection methods, could result in numerous analytical approaches, all with particular advantages and disadvantages. The dual aim of this study was (a) to develop SNP-based analytical assays such as the single-base primer extension (SNaPShot) and pyrosequencing in order to differentiate Arabica and Robusta varieties for the authentication of coffee beans and (b) to compare the performances of SNaPshot, pyrosequencing and the previously developed polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) using an Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer on the basis of linearity (R2) and LOD, expressed as percentage of the adulterant species, using green coffee beans (Arabica and Robusta) as a food model. The results showed that SNaPshot analysis exhibited the best LOD, whereas pyrosequencing revealed the best linearity (R2 = 0.997). The PCR-RFLP assay using the Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer could prove to be a very useful method for a laboratory that lacks sequencing facilities but it can be used only if a SNP creates/deletes a restriction site.