Year: 2026 | Month: June | Volume: 13 | Issue: 6 | Pages: 602-610
DOI: https://doi.org/10.52403/ijrr.20260658
Identification of Tuna (Thunnus sp.) in Sashimi Products from Restaurants in Manado City Using DNA Barcoding
Viranda Sheren Legie1, Beivy Jonathan Kolondam1, Marhaenus Johanis Rumondor1
1Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Sam Ratulangi University, Manado, Indonesia.
Corresponding Author: Beivy Jonathan Kolondam
ABSTRACT
Tuna sashimi is a high-value fishery product widely consumed in Manado City; however, morphological verification of the tuna species used in such products is practically unfeasible. This study aimed to identify tuna species in sashimi products sold at restaurants in Manado City using DNA barcoding based on the cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene. Sashimi samples were collected from four restaurants under actual operational conditions. The research procedure included tissue preparation, DNA extraction, amplification of the COI gene with universal primers, agarose gel electrophoresis, and Sanger sequencing. Sequences were assembled and edited using Geneious Prime v2025.2.2, then compared against the GenBank database via BLAST for species identification. All four samples (VL1, VL2, VL3, and VL4) produced single DNA bands of 709 bp. BLAST analysis showed 100% in sequence similarity with Thunnus albacares, belong to yellowfin tuna group. Multiple Sequence Alignment revealed one synonymous transversion in sample VL4. Pairwise sequence similarity among samples ranged from 99.85% to 100%, and the Kimura 2-Parameter (K2P) genetic distance was 0.000-0.0015. Phylogenetic analysis using the Neighbor-Joining method (1000 bootstrap replicates) confirmed the clustering of all samples with reference sequences of T. albacares. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of COI-based DNA barcoding for tuna species authentication in sashimi products and provide a scientific basis for seafood product traceability in Manado City.
Keywords: COI; DNA barcoding; molecular identification; tuna sashimi; Thunnus albacares
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