Analytical methods for halal food authentication: principles, comparisons and food applications

Abstract

ECHNIQUES Food choice has normally been reflected individual expectations such as lifestyles, culture, religion and health concerns. From the Muslim societies' point of view, this expectation is usually related to halal situation of the food. A considerable number of methods have been developed to evaluate the authenticity and traceability of foods. The analytical methods used for halal food authentication might put in order as polymerase chain reaction, enzyme linked immunosorbent assays, mass spectrometry, chromatography, electronic nose and spectroscopy. These techniques offer a unique possibility for the rapid and reliable separation and quantitative determination of macro-and micro components of highly similar chemical structures in complicated matrices of foods and food products. Chromatographic methods (HPLC, GC etc.) are used to determinate the pork, lard and pig gelatin in food matrix due to fatty acid, triglyceride and aminoacid composition of food and this method presents a high separation performance. Enzyme-Linked Immuno Sorbent Assay (ELISA) is a method used to define the species of meat products. ELISA provides the opportunity to analyze a great number of samples in a short time. Electronic nose method is used for determination and separation of lards from the other fats. Spectroscopic techniques, another validation technique, operates in a different and limited frequency range depending on the size of the processes and energy exchange. These techniques are acceptable in agriculture and food products for both qualitative and quantitative analysis, and provides an alternative to time-consuming wet chemical techniques. Among DNA-based methods, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is the most well developed molecular technique up to now and provides a simple, rapid, highly sensitive and specific detection for constituents of animal origin in foods. This study will focus on the review and discussion with selected examples of commonly used analytical methods for food authentication in halal food industry.