title: Detection of sesame seed DNA in foods using real-time PCR.
abstract: The detection of potentially allergenic foods, such as sesame seeds, in food products is a major concern for the food-processing industry. A real-time PCR method was designed to determine if sesame seed DNA is present in food products. The PCR reaction amplifies a 66-bp fragment of the sesame seed 2S albumin gene, which is detected with a sesame-specific, dual-labeled TaqMan probe. This reaction will not amplify DNA derived from other seeds present in baked goods, such as pumpkin, poppy, and sunflower seeds. Additionally, this assay will not cross-react with DNA from several tree nut species, such as almond, Brazil nut, cashew, hazelnut, and walnut, as well as four varieties of peanut. This assay is sensitive enough to detect 5 pg of purified sesame seed DNA, as well as sesame seed DNA in a spiked wheat cracker sample.
authors.affiliation: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Forensic Chemistry Center, 6751 Steger Drive, Cincinnati, Ohio 45237-3097, USA. jennifer.brzezinski@fda.gov
authors.forename: Jennifer L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Brzezinski
mesh_terms: D000485:Allergens / Q000032:analysis*; D003257:Consumer Product Safety; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000032:analysis*; D005504:Food Analysis / Q000379:methods; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000517:prevention & control; D005784:Gene Amplification; D006801:Humans; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D031685:Sesamum / Q000235:genetics; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens; D018744:DNA, Plant