Discrimination of Meat Species in Processed Meat Products Based on the Ratio of Histidine Dipeptides

Abstract

Meat species discrimination was examined on heat processed meat products by the analysis of histidine dipeptides, carnosine, anserine, and balenine, using high-performance liquid chromatography. The distribution of these dipeptides and their ratios, carnosine/anserine and balenine/anserine, were specific to each meat species of beef, pork, horse, deer, chicken, and turkey. Products made from single meat species of beef, pork, or chicken were almost always correctly identified from the dipeptide ratios. This discrimination technique was unaffected by the contents of moisture, fat, and/or other ingredients. The meat proportion in most of the mixed meat products made from any two meat species of beef, pork, and chicken was able to be semi-quantitatively determined using the standard curves of dipeptide ratio versus meat proportion.