Study on Commercial Spice and Herb Products Using Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS)

Abstract

Background: The use of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-based testing methods is increasing in the food sector. DNA analyses can be a helpful tool for the analysis of many food products and can address some of the present concerns about adulteration and authenticity. Several analytical methods have been proposed to answer the specific topic of species composition in foods. Objective: The aim is to show that Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a suitable tool for food analysis including spices, herbs, seasoning, etc. Method: In the present study, we show how an internal NGS workflow was setup and tested for species composition in real food seasoning samples. Results: Commercial samples of different spice and herb mixtures were analysed by our internal developed NGS workflow. The results obtained will be discussed based on the labeling of the products relative to the type of sample and species mixtures. Conclusions: Here we show that our internal NGS workflow can be successfully applied in complex commercial samples. Highlights: NGS can become a powerfull and reliable tool for authentication of spices and herbs products.