Applying DNA techniques to the identification of the species of dressed toasted eel products

To differentiate the species of processed eel products, the gene identification of four fresh eel species was first established and the species of eel products collected from markets were investigated. Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and sequence analysis were used to determine the genetic variation in a 362-nucleotide region of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene in four fresh eels including Anguilla japonica, Anguilla anguilla, Anguilla rostrata, and Muraenesox cinereus. It was found that each eel species had a unique genotype, which was no different among fresh, frozen, and sterilized meats. The restriction enzyme HinfI could differentiate the species of A. japonica and A. rostrata but could not differentiate A. anguilla and M. cinereus. Another restriction enzyme, Sau96 I, was valuable in the differentiation of M. cinereus from the other three species of Anguilla. By applying PCR and restriction enzymes, the species of 12 commercial eel products were identified as A. japonica (9 samples), A. anguilla (2), and A. rostrata (1). This indicated that the sequence and restriction enzyme cutting site analyses were very usable to authenticate species of different processed eel products.