ANALYTICAL STRATEGIES BASED ON NON-DESTRUCTIVE METHODS AND METAGENOMICS FOR THE CONTROL OF PRODUCTION METHOD AND GEOGRAPHIC ORIGIN

EUROPEAN REGULATIONS INTEND TO TACKLE THE FRAUD RELATED TO SEAFOOD MISLABELLING, BUT FOR ITS FULL IMPLEMENTATION, THE AVAILABILITY OF ANALYTICAL TOOLS IS NEEDED TO ALLOW THE CONTROLS AT THE DIFFERENT LEVELS OF THE VALUE CHAIN. THE PRODUCTION METHOD (WILD OR AQUACULTURED) AND THE GEOGRAPHIC ORIGIN MUST BE PRESENT IN THE LABELS FOR THE CONSUMER TO MAKE AN INFORMED AND CONSCIOUS CHOICE (EU 1169/2011), BUT THE LACK OF VISUAL DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS IMPEDES THE EVALUATION OF THIS TYPE OF FRAUD, DIRECTED TO MARKET CULTURED PRODUCT AS WILD, WITH THE ENSUING PROFIT AT THE EXPENSE OF THE CONSUMER. CURRENTLY, CONTROL AUTHORITIES AND INDUSTRY DON’T HAVE RAPID AND/OR NON-DESTRUCTIVE METHODS TO VERIFY THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PRODUCTION METHOD. WITH THE AIM OF DEVELOPING, TESTING AND TRANSFER TO THE LABORATORIES AND INDUSTRY THIS TYPE OF TOOLS, SEAFOOD-ID IS CONCEIVED, AS A PROJECT THAT WILL HELP TO FIGHT FOOD FRAUD IN THESE TWO PARTICULAR ISSUES. FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF RAPID METHODS TO CONTROL THE PRODUCTION METHOD, SEAFOOD-ID WILL USE TURBOT (SCOPHTHALMUS MAXIMUS) AS A CASE STUDY, AND ONE OF THE APPROACHES USED WILL BE THE SEARCH FOR DISTINCTIVE TAXA OF THE MICROBIOTA WHICH ACT AS MARKERS THAT ALLOW THE DIFFERENTIATION WHETHER AN INDIVIDUAL HAS BEEN CAPTURED OR FARMED. THREE TYPES OF TISSUES WILL BE STUDIED: THE MUCUS OF THE SKIN, THE GILLS AND THE INTESTINE, WHICH WILL BE ANALYZED USING A METAGENOMICS APPROACH WITH NGS AND A SUBSEQUENT BIOINFORMATIC ANALYSIS THAT ALLOWS SELECTING THE MOST INFORMATIVE TISSUE AND POTENTIALLY DIFFERENTIATING TAXA. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE CAPACITY OF ELECTRICAL BIOIMPEDANCE WILL BE STUDIED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A RAPID AND NON-DESTRUCTIVE METHOD FOR THE VERIFICATION OF THE PRODUCTION METHOD, SINCE THE DISTRIBUTION, TYPE AND AMOUNT OF TISSUE FAT IS DIFFERENT IN WILD AND CULTURED INDIVIDUALS. FOR THIS, TURBOT WILL ALSO BE USED AS A SPECIES THAT CAN BE FOUND BOTH CAPTURED AND WILD IN THE MARKET, AND THE DATA OBTAINED WITH THE BIA DEVICE WILL BE USED TO DEVELOP A STATISTICAL MODEL THAT ALLOWS THE INDIVIDUALS TO BE CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO THEIR PRODUCTION METHOD. TO TACKLE THE PROBLEM OF GEOGRAPHICAL ORIGIN, THE STUDIES WILL FOCUS ON THE MEDITERRANEAN MUSSEL (MYTILUS GALLOPROVINCIALIS), WHOSE SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS MAKE IT A PERFECT SPECIES AS A CASE STUDY, DUE TO ITS PRODUCTION METHOD, ITS WIDE DISTRIBUTION, ITS BIOLOGY AND ITS APPRECIATION BY CONSUMERS IN DIFFERENT REGIONS. IT WILL BE BASED ON THE HYPOTHESIS THAT BOTH THE MICROBIOTA AND THE DIET OF THE MUSSEL ARE DEPENDENT ON THE GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION OF THE FARMS, AND A METAGENETIC APPROACH WILL BE USED TO CHARACTERIZE THE INDIVIDUALS OF THE DIFFERENT LOCATIONS THROUGH BIODIVERSITY (EUKARYOTIC AND PROKARYOTIC) PRESENT IN THEIR DIGESTIVE GLANDS. IT IS EXPECTED THAT THE ANALYSIS OF THESE DATA WILL ALLOW INFERRING POSSIBLE TAXA OR COMMUNITIES THAT DEFINE THE GEOGRAPHIC ORIGIN OF EACH POPULATION AND ALLOW THE DEVELOPMENT OF A PROTOCOL FOR THE CONTROL.