Detection Tuna and Processed Products Based Protein and DNA Barcoding

Tuna is the second largest fishery commodity in Indonesia after the shrimp. Since the high demand and the limited stock of tuna resulted in fraudulent chance. Authentication is required to meassure consumers regarding the accuracy of its labeling and food safety. In this study, the authentication was based on protein and DNA barcoding using cytochrome-b gene (cyt-b) of the mitochondrial DNA as the target of gene. Primer of cyt b gene was designed based on the tuna species. This study aimed to identify the authenticity of tuna fresh and its processed products through protein using SDS-PAGE  and DNA barcoding techniques. The phases of this research were protein electrophoresis by SDS-PAGE, DNA extraction, PCR amplification, electrophoresis and sequencing. Samples of fresh fish (Tu1, Tu2, Tu3, Tu4, and Tu5) and processed tuna (canned and steak) were successfully extracted. Result showed that SDS-PAGE proved the damage of proteins in the processed tuna, so this method was not appropriate if it is used to identify the authenticity of tuna. PCR electrophoresis results showed that the samples of tuna, tuna steak, sushi, meat ball, abon, and caned tuna were successfully amplified in the range of 500-750 bp except Ka3, which was in line with the target of DNA (620 bp). Resulted sequences of Tu2, Tu3, Tu4 and Tu5 were identified according the results of morphometric namely T. albacares, while Tu1 was identified as T. obesus with homology level of 99%. Processed tunas (steak and canned tuna) were identified as T. albacares, as stated on the labels. Keywords: Authentication, cytb, DNA barcoding, design primer, SDS-PAGE