ABSTRACT
The adulteration of food products has become a major issue regarding economic fraud and the safety of food. Several traditional methods are available for food authentication in targeted single analytes, such as Sudan dyes in spices or melamine in milk powder. Targeted proteomics applications in food authentication provide new insights into proteomic studies. Proteomics has been successfully used in the study of quality control in food production processes including meat, wine, beer, and milk, and the products of transgenic plants. Mass spectrometry technology facilitates the simultaneous sequencing of several proteins. It generates huge amounts of information that can be stored using bioinformatics tools. In a targeted experimental design, selected fragments or peptide ions that are linked with a protein/peptide of interest are analyzed with specified retention time windows and a dynamic m/z ratio. The use of peptides as a potential tool for employing proteomic technologies in food authentication is limited when compared to other DNA-based methodologies.
