sandwich ELISA for the determination of beef meat content in processed foods

Two kinds of polyclonal antibodies against beef myoglobin were produced by immunizing rabbits with denatured myoglobin or with a peptide having the amino acid sequence unique to beef myoglobin. The latter peptide antibody reacted specifically with beef myoglobin without cross-reacting with other food proteins or with pork and chicken myoglobin. A sandwich ELISA, in which this peptide antibody was used as a capture antibody and the anti-denatured myoglobin antibody as an enzyme-labeled antibody, was also specific against beef myoglobin. When the beef content was determined in pork-or chicken-based model foods by this sandwich ELISA, the recoveries of beef protein agreed well with the actual mixing ratio of beef. Moreover, it could be confirmed by this method that the labeling of beef usage in several commercially processed foods was reasonable. Thus, a sandwich ELISA suitable for the evaluation of beef content in various foods was established.