Mitochondrial citrate synthase enzyme biomarker assisted novel sandwich ELISA for authentication of fresh vs. frozen thawed chicken meat
摘要
Mislabeling of frozen thawed chicken meat as fresh or chilled meat is a serious and growing concern as the defrosted meat is having inferior quality and less consumer acceptance as compared to the fresh meat. This study focuses on the development of a sandwich ELISA based on mitochondrial citrate synthase (CS) enzyme as a biomarker to differentiate between fresh and frozen thawed chicken. Polyclonal antibodies (IgG) raised inhouse in two different laboratory animals (rabbit and guinea pig) were utilized for the development of assay. 1:1000 dilution each of rabbit anti- CS polyclonal antibody as capture antibody and guinea pig anti- CS polyclonal antibody was optimized as detection antibody for sandwich ELISA. At a cut off value of 40% positivity (PP) the assay attained a sensitivity of 94.2% and specificity of 91.2% and there was a significant difference (p < 0.05) between the PP of fresh/ chilled and frozen thawed chicken samples. Chicken meat stored up to 5 days at refrigeration temperature (4 ± 1ºC) did now reach the cut off PP value. The developed sandwich ELISA can be utilized for the detection of frozen thawed chicken meat and to prevent the mislabeling practices.