Development of methods for determining the species of origin in fresh and processed meat product that are simpler, faster and more accurate has become a necessity due to difficulties and some disadvantages of the existing methods used for this purpose (anatomical differences, sensory analysis, chemical properties of fat tissue, histological differences, protein based-tests, serological tests). Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is one of the most significant developments occurate in molecular biology in recent years. This tecnique enables amplification of DNA in vitro in a short period of time facilitating determination of species of plant, bacteria or animals.

In the present study, a PCR-based Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) technique was used a 10-base primer (CGCCCTGGTC). Origin of meats from cattle, sheep, goat and wild swine was determined accurately by this method using a PCR procedure of 45 cycles, each of which was programmed as 1 min at 94 º C, 1 min at 37 º C, and 2 min at 72 º C.