Durante, carcass tester, finding of Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

Priority should be focused on consumer’s health. Protection should be given to the maximum to food products which have the potential to cause health problems. Carcass meat comes from the meat of animals that have died before they are slaughtered. Malpractices in selling carcass meat should be tackled through early detection. One of the researchers at the Veterinary Public Health Department (Kesmavet) of UGM Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. drh. Yatri Drastini, M.Sc., has successfully created a detection tool called Durante to inspect carcass meat.

To journalists on Tuesday (21/7) Yatri said that the tool was a user friendly re-agent for rapid detection of carcass meat which can show accurate results. “This can detect the carcass meat up to 95% in terms of its accuracy,” said the lady who was born in 1949 in Tulungagung, East Java Province.

According to Yatri, Durante works on blood extract of the meat containing haemoglobin which reacts chemically with re-agent solution. It will show whether a change in colour will happen. “In essence, the principle is to use chemical solution that reacts with blood. Normally, carcass meat contains more haemoglobin content than fresh meat, because carcass is not slaughtered so that the blood does not pour out. Slaughtered meat pours blood out, so its haemoglobin content is much less.”

The mother of one child explained that the colour change in re-agents shows that chemical solution does not react with the haemoglobin. If the re-agent colour turns dark green, this means that the meat is carcass. On the contrary, if the reagent colour turns blue, this confirms that the meat is fresh. “It only takes a minute to confirm,” she said.

She said that the tool had been used in several animal husbandry agencies. For the time being, she is applying for a patent for the tool. She said that the research had started in 1997. She worked on her own initially, later she invited other research partners and doctoral degree students to join. “The composition of the re-agent chemicals is not yet publicised as we’re still working on the patent,” she explained.

Separately, during the Research Week mini-expo at the Grha Sabha Pramana UGM, one of the lecturers in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. drh. Widagdo, said that this tool was effective to detect carcass sold at markets and had even been used by animal husbandry agencies in the Yogyakarta province.