ABSTRACT
Objective. The aim of this study was to validate a method for detecting L. monocytogenes in raw milk.Materials and methods. The extraction procedure carried out using a chaotropic agent like NaI, to reduce fat in the sample to 0.2 percent w/v, which is the lowest limit for detection in the Gerber method, to avoid the polymerization. The raw milk samples were analyzed by using the traditional gold standard method for L. monocytogenes. Detection PCR was done on the specificity of primers that recognize the Listeria genus by amplifying a specific fragment of about 938bp of the 16S rDNA. Several primer sets were use: L1 CTCCATAAAGGTGACCCT), U1 (CAGCMGCCGCGGTAATWC), LF (CAAACGTTAACAACGCAGTA) and LR (TCCAGAGTGATCGATGTTAA) that recognize the hlyA gene of L. monocytogenes, amplifying a 750bp fragment. Results. The DNA of 39 strains evidenced high specificity of the technique since all the strains of L. monocytogenes amplified the fragments 938bp and 750bp, specifically for genus and species, respectively. The detection limit of the PCR was 101 CFU/ml. T he PCR reproducibility showed a Kappa of 0.85; the specificity and sensitivity of 100 percent were found, predictive positive and negative values were of 100 percent respectively. Conclusions. These results demonstrate that is possible to detect of Listeria spp. by using any of the three methods since they share the same sensitivity and specificity. One hundred percentof the predictive value for PCR (alternative method) provides high reliability, and allows the detection ofthe positive samples. The extraction procedure combined with a PCR method can reduce in 15 days the time of identification of L. monocytogenes in raw milk. This PCR technique could be adapted and validated to be use for other types of food such as poultry, meat products and cheeses.