Vol. 9, Issue 2, Part C (2025)

Mutton biriyani, the most relished meat product, preferred by all age groups is prone for frequent suspicions of adulteration owing to its cost factor. Mutton biriyani samples (six samples each) procured from hotels, restaurants and fast food outlets in three different zones (Zone I-Purasaiwalkam and Perambur, Zone II-Anna Nagar and Adyar, Zone III-Guindy and Tambaram) were subjected to multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR) to detect the incidence of fraud by substitution of cattle and buffalo meat in mutton biriyani in Chennai. The mPCR protocol used primers that amplify sequences of 346 base pairs of bovine DNA, 220 base pairs of buffalo DNA, 331 base pairs of sheep DNA and 157 base pairs of goat DNA.

The study revealed that the incidence of adulteration occurred in 22.22% of the hotels, restaurants and fast food outlets in zone I, 5.55% among outlets in zone II and 16.66% of the outlets sampled in zone III. The incidence of adulteration among hotels in all zones was 11.11%, which was 8.33% in restaurants in all zones and in respect of fast foods in all zones it was 25%. Out of 108 samples collected the total percentage of adulteration was found to be 14.81% among the outlets in all zones which demonstrated that the act of adulteration did not occur intentionally for economic gains in Chennai.