molecules Article Multispecies Identification of Oilseed- and Meat-Specific Proteins and Heat-Stable Peptide Markers in Food Products Klaudia Kotecka-Majchrzak 1, Natalia Kasałka-Czarna 1 , Agata Sumara 2, Emilia Fornal 2 and Magdalena Montowska 1,* 1 Department of Meat Technology, Poznan University of Life Sciences, Wojska Polskiego 31, 60-624 Poznan, Poland;
[email protected] (K.K.-M.);
[email protected] (N.K.-C.) 2 Department of Pathophysiology, Medical University of Lublin, Jaczewskiego 8b, 20-090 Lublin, Poland;
[email protected] (A.S.);
[email protected] (E.F.) * Correspondence:
[email protected]; Tel.: +48-61-848-7257 Abstract: Consumer demand for both plant products and meat products enriched with plant raw materials is constantly increasing. Therefore, new versatile and reliable methods are needed to find and combat fraudulent practices in processed foods. The objective of this study was to identify oilseed species-specific peptide markers and meat-specific markers that were resistant to processing, for multispecies authentication of different meat and vegan food products using the proteomic LC-MS/MS method. To assess the limit of detection (LOD) for hemp proteins, cooked meatballs consisting of three meat species and hemp cake at a final concentration of up to 7.4% were examined. Hemp addition at a low concentration of below 1% was detected. The LOD for edestin subunits and albumin was 0.9% (w/w), whereas for 7S vicilin-like protein it was 4.2% (w/w). Specific heat-stable peptides unique to hemp seeds, flaxseed, nigella, pumpkin, sesame, and sunflower seeds, as well as guinea fowl, rabbit, pork, and chicken meat, were detected in different meat and vegan foods.