Abstract
Identification of buffalo dairy products has become an important issue to ascertain product quality, consumer rights and absence of food-borne allergic reactions. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by a high resolution melting (HRM) analysis was developed and applied for species specific detection of bovine milk in nine different commercial buffalo dairy products. A specific buffalo 12S rRNA and a bovine d-loop primer pair, targeting the mitochondrial genome, were employed in a duplex PCR assay. The analysis developed was found capable of identifying the presence of bovine milk down to 1% in commercial buffalo milk products and also of quantifying the ratio of bovine into buffalo milk. HRM was proven to be a fast and accurate technique for a routine authentication testing of mozzarella and other buffalo milk products.