USM RESEARCHERS DISCOVER METHOD TO DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN CHICKEN AND PORK

PENANG (Malaysia), April 2 (Bernama) -- A team of researchers at University
Science of Malaysia (USM) has discovered a method of differentiating chicken
from pork in food products by using by using a sugar mixture called ribose.

Through the method using the Maillard reaction approach, the two meats will
change into a different colour from each other as a result of their reaction to
the sugar compound.

The Maillard reaction is named after French scientist Louis Camille Maillard
(1878-1936, who studied the reactions of amino acids and carbohydrates in 1912.

USM head of research, Prof Azhar Mat Esa, said the test was simple and could
be done at home with the right equipment.

"All you need to do is to take a piece of meat and mix it with the sugar
compound and then heat the meat to a certain temperature for the colour change,"
he told a news conference at USM here today, with fellow researchers Tan Thuan
Chew and Dr Abbas F.M Alkarkhi.

Azhar, who is also the dean of USM's School of Graduate Studies and
Research, said by using a device called spectrophotometer, the colour achieved
would tell "whether the meat is chicken or pork".

He said from the tests conducted, chicken meat turned darker than pork.

"Using the test, the public, particularly Muslim consumers, need not worry
whether the meat they will be eating is really chicken as the test result will
be known in less than two hours."

Azhar said the new discovery, which would be filed for patent application,
would also be useful to differentiate gelatin derived from cows and that derived
from pigs.

"It can be applied in the food industry like the halal frozen meat sector,"
he said, adding that a spectrophotometer cost about RM25,000 (US$1=RM3.2) and a
bottle of ribose (4gm), RM15.

-- BERNAMA