Species identification by analysis of bone collagen using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Abstract

Species identification of fragmentary bone, such as in rendered meat and bone meal or from archaeological sites, is often difficult in the absence of clear morphological markers. Here we present a robust method of analysing genus-specific collagen peptides by mass spectrometry simply by using solid-phase extraction (a C18 ZipTip) for peptide purification, rather than liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC/MS). Analysis of the collagen from 32 different mammal species identified a total of 92 peptide markers that could be used for species identification, for example, in processed food and animal feed. A set of ancient (>100 ka@10 degrees C) bone samples was also analysed to show that the proposed method has applications to archaeological bone identification.