title: Quantification and viability assays of Toxoplasma gondii in commercial "Serrano" ham samples using magnetic capture real-time qPCR and bioassay techniques.
abstract: "Serrano" ham is a typical pork product from the Mediterranean area, highly valued for its flavour. To make Serrano ham, pork undergoes a salting and a subsequent fermentation process known as curing. Certain pigs used for meat production are an important source of Toxoplasma gondii infection in humans. We have developed a method for quantifying and assaying the viability of the T. gondii present in commercial Serrano ham samples. A magnetic capture method for the isolation of T. gondii DNA and a qRT-PCR were used to estimate the T. gondii burden in 475 commercial samples of "Serrano" ham in two presentation formats: ham pieces and sliced ham. The infectivity capacity of T. gondii in positive samples was assayed in mice. The global prevalence of T. gondii was 8.84%, ranging from 32.35% in one of the companies to 0% prevalence in three other companies. The infectivity assays revealed that only 4.84% of the positive samples were infective. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report focussing on the prevalence of T. gondii in commercial "Serrano" ham. The method described here could be useful for producers to guarantee the safety of their products.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología, Grupo de Bioquímica y Parasitología Molecular, Dpto de Parasitología, Universidad de Granada, Campus Universitario Fuentenueva, 18071 Granada, Spain. Electronic address: msambla@ugr.es.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gomez-Samblas
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología, Grupo de Bioquímica y Parasitología Molecular, Dpto de Bioquímica, Universidad de Granada, Campus Universitario Fuentenueva, 18071 Granada, Spain. Electronic address: svt@ugr.es.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vílchez
authors.affiliation: Parque Científico y Agroalimentario de Jerez, Avda. Innovación 1, 11591 Jerez de la Frontera, Spain. Electronic address: jcracero@pcta-jerez.es.
authors.forename: J C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Racero
authors.affiliation: Departament de Parasitologia, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de València, Avinguda de Vicent Andrés Estellés, s/n, 46100 Burjassot, València, Spain. Electronic address: mario.v.fuentes@uv.es.
authors.forename: M V
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Fuentes
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Biotecnología, Grupo de Bioquímica y Parasitología Molecular, Dpto de Parasitología, Universidad de Granada, Campus Universitario Fuentenueva, 18071 Granada, Spain. Electronic address: aosuna@ugr.es.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Osuna
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001681:Biological Assay / Q000379:methods*; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008280:Magnetics; D008461:Meat Products / Q000191:economics / Q000469:parasitology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D013030:Spain; D013552:Swine; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000469:parasitology*
keywords: Bioassay; Commercial cured “Serrano Ham”; DNA magnetic capture; Infectivity; Quantitative real-time PCR; Toxoplasma gondii