Cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) and Tea (Camellia sinensis [L.] Kuntze) are important perennial crops in tropical and subtropical regions. Rapid market segmentation has resulted in a strong demand for specialty cocoa and tea products. One problem with the premium market is contamination with off-types, adulterating raw premium material. Accurate determination of genetic identity for a single cacao bean or a single tea bud is essential for ensuring varietal authentication. Using a nanofluidic single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping system, we generated SNP fingerprints for small quantities of DNA extracted from a single cacao bean or a single tea bud. Based on the SNP profiles, the adulterant varieties can be unambiguously distinguished from the authentic ones by multi-locus matching. For varieties with unknown genetic identities, assignment tests based on both Bayesian clustering analysis and allele frequency can be applied to separate the authentic from the non-authentic samples. The nanofluidic SNP protocol, together with forensic statistical tools, is sufficiently robust to establish authentication and to verify premium cacao and tea varieties. This method shows significant potential for practical application to the chocolate and tea value chain.

Accurate varietal authentication of cacao (<i>Theobroma cacao</i> L.) and tea (<i>Camellia sinensis</i> [L.] Kuntze) using nanofluidic SNP fingerprinting

248th National Meeting (2014)

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Accurate varietal authentication of cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) and tea (Camellia sinensis [L.] Kuntze) using nanofluidic SNP fingerprinting