Abstract
Abstract
Background
Meat adulteration is a covert food fraud practice that poses considerable safety and ethical risks. This practice challenges traditional detection methods due to biomarker degradation in processed products.
Objective
The objective of this review is to summarize recent advancements in proteomics-based techniques and provide a comprehensive methodological and theoretical reference for optimizing meat authenticity verification systems.
Methods
The present review compares proteomics with traditional methods and outlines standardized workflows, covering sample preparation, mass spectrometry data acquisition modes, and bioinformatic analysis.
Results
Key findings highlight the identification of heat-stable species-specific signature peptides, in addition to the application of these markers across a variety of scenarios, including species identification, tissue-of-origin analysis, and geographical traceability.
Conclusions
Proteomics provides high-resolution, multitarget analytical capabilities for complex matrixes. Future directions for this field include the translation of technology into biosensors and the global standardization of peptide libraries. Potential leadership for these efforts could come from international organizations, with the aim of advancing industrial and regulatory applications.
Highlights
Recent advances in proteomic technologies for meat adulteration detection are comprehensively reviewed. Proteomics outperforms traditional methods by targeting heat-stable peptides in thermally processed matrices. A standardized workflow covering sample preparation, MS acquisition and bioinformatic analysis is outlined. Diverse applications including species identification, tissue tracing and origin verification are summarized. Biosensor translation and global standardization of peptide libraries are proposed as key future directions.