IDENTIFICAZIONE DI FILETTI DI PESCE PIATTO MEDIANTE SEQUENZIAMENTO E ANALISI FILOGENETICA DEL DNA MITOCONDRIALE: LA TECNOLOGIA A SUPPORTO DELL’ESPERIENZA

The problems concerning the recognition based on morphology of fish products have led to search for alternative methods to ensure proper identification, especially for those products that are more liable to substitution frauds, due to the type of processing. In this paper, through the development of a method for the amplification and sequencing of portions of the mitochondrial DNA, we examined fish fillets purchased as Greenland Halibut (Reinhardtius hippoglossoides) by a Tuscan school canteen. These fillets were reported by the cooks to have an unusual reaction to cooking. The phylogenetic analysis, performed on fragments of the genes 16srRNA and cytb, has identified the product as Pacific Passera, thus demonstrating the existence of a commercial fraud, already suspected by the employees of the canteen. While confirming the great potential of the methods based on DNA analysis as a tool for control and traceability, the results of this study highlight the importance of proceeding through a strategy that, from time to time, consider the nature and type of the product and the availability of information on the molecular databases.