Page 36 - FoodFocusThailand No.164 November 2019

STRONG QC &
STRONG QC & QAQA

Shortcomings of

Molecular

(Nucleic acid-based)

Techniques in

Food Safety

Microbiology

Microbial contaminations that are the major

cause of food borne illness threatening to
consumers can occur at any point along the
food production chain. Such microorganism
can be found in raw material, production

environments, or cross contamination, including
direct contacted by food processing workers.

A Molecular biology technique utilizing for food contamination analysis is a method that has been
continuously developed over a period of more than 25 years. These techniques are accurate, specific,
and prompt interpretation of the result, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR), Multiplex PCR Real-
time PCR. Instead of standard methods, PCR assay is then an alternative method applying for pathogen
analysis.
For analyzing virus in food, viruses cannot multiply by overtaking a host cell. Culturing virus then
cannot be done on a culture medium like other types of microbes such as pathogenic bacteria. Therefore,
molecular biology technique is the only method used to assay viruses in food. Moreover, molecular
techniques can be used to analyze microbial cells in viable, but non-culturable (VBNC) conditions that
contaminate food. This technique is used to examine the genetic material or nucleic acid of the target
microorganism that could be Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or Ribonucleic acid (RNA). The said genetic
material perhaps found in various conditions like living microbial cells, not yet decomposed dead cells,
injury cells, VBNC cells in contaminated food, or deliberated from dead microbial cells, as well as being
as a part of foods (Table 1).
Today, many foodborne pathogen detection kits selling in the market have been developed on the
basis of specific analysis of the genetic material of the targeting microbes. The detection could be verified
only found or not found (with or without) pathogen or else using quantitative examination of the targeting

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