A PCR-based method for the detection of hexaploid bread wheat adulteration of durum wheat and pasta

This paper presents a new method for the detection of the adulteration by hexaploid bread wheat of pasta products described as being manufactured solely from durum wheat. This problem has, in the past, been addressed using a variety of methods based mainly upon the analysis of proteins, the detection of which are problematical owing to the wide range of processing conditions employed throughout the industry. The new method is based upon the use of the polymerase chain reaction, whereby the presence of a previously described DNA sequence amplified in the D-genome of wheat can be detected at low levels. The method described is rapid, inexpensive, and can be readily replicated for accuracy. This new method has been applied to a large number of wheat cultivars from around the world to demonstrate that it has general applicability. It is hoped that this method can be further extended to form the basis of a quantitative assay for the adulteration of durum-wheat products. (C) 1998 Academic Press.