Nucleic Acid Content of Bovine Bone Marrow, Muscle and Mechanically Deboned Beef

The purpose of this study was to quantify nucleic acids in bone marrow and to determine if nucleic acid levels in mechanically deboned meat (MDM) which contains marrow are high enough to be nutritionally hazardous. Bone marrow from cervical and lumbar vertebrae, MDM and longissimus muscle samples were analyzed for DNA and RNA. Nucleic acid concentrations in marrow were influenced by class of animal and by anatomical location of bones. Marrow, MDM and muscle averaged 20.3, 7.6, and 1.4 mg DNA/g, and 1.9, 0.7 and 0.4 mg RNA/g respectively, indicating that increased levels of marrow in MDM would increase nucleic acid content. Nevertheless, processed meat is limited to 20% of the meat block as MDM. At this level processed meats would contain moderate amounts of nucleic acids which would not be substantially greater than levels already found in processed meat.