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Coffee is one of the most important world food commodities, commercial trade consisting almost entirely of Arabica and Robusta varieties. The former is considered to be of superior quality and thus attracts a premium price. Methods to differentiate these coffee species could prove to be beneficial for the detection of either deliberate or accidental adulteration. This study describes a molecular genetics approach to differentiate Arabica and Robusta coffee beans. This employs a Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism to monitor a single nucleotide polymorphism within the chloroplastic genome. Samples were analyzed with a lab-on-a-chip capillary electrophoresis system. Coffee powder mixtures were analyzed with this technique, displaying a 5% limit of detection. The plastid copy number was found to be relatively constant across a wide range of bean samples, suggesting that this methodology can also be employed for the quantification of any adulteration of Arabica with Robusta beans.

Methods to discriminate plant oils facilitate the detection of either deliberate or accidental adulteration. To this direction, the variability in length among plant species of the chloroplast trnL intron was exploited for the authentication of edible and cosmetic plant oils, with an extra emphasis on olive oil. The methodology was based on the combinatorial use of a PCR assay with a capillary electrophoresis system such as the lab-on-a-chip technology. Application of the assay on DNA extracted from different oil producing plant species, including olive oil and sesame oil, indicated the ability of the trnL intron to be used as an analytical target. Furthermore, this assay could be used for the detection of adulteration of olive oil with various other plant oils, with the exception of avocado and sesame oil.

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