THE PERFORMANCE OF ELISA AND DOT-BLOT METHODS FOR THE DETECTION OF CRAB FLESH IN HEATED AND STERILIZED SURIMI-BASED PRODUCTS

Polyclonal anti-lobster arginine kinase antiserum was used as a probe to test for the presence of crab flesh (invertebrate tissues) in surimi-based products. Arginine kinase is a cytoplasmic enzyme present in many invertebrates and is absent from vertebrates. Antibodies against lobster arginine kinase interacted strongly with snow crab but they gave only a low response in molluscs such as limpet, squid and scallop. Surimi (washed fish mince) exhibited a slight residual immunobinding response. Arginine kinase could easily be detected in crab-supplemented surimi preparations with a correlation between the level of crab added to surimi and the level of immunological response. Using direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and an immunodot procedure, the results showed that an addition of 10-25 g of crab flesh per kg surimi-based products could be detected even after a high sterilization process.