Porcine Bone Marrow: Extraction Procedure and Characterization by Bone Type

Data on porcine and bovine bone marrow composition indicate high calcium content, which may be erroneously elevated owing to the marrow recovery process. A method of bone marrow recovery was developed that involved passing marrow extracted from bone through a filter-press mechanism to remove very fine bone particles and dust, allowing a more accurate analysis of marrow. Calcium values were reduced approximately 90% and ash values reduced more than 50% compared to other reported data. The new recovery method did not require sawing away the hard bone and it removed particulate that may have interfered with analyses. Bone marrow was characterized by bone type. Rib bone marrow had higher protein, iron, non-heme iron and total pigment than scapula, aitch/hip bone or vertebrae marrow. Fat ranged from 17·81 to 26·76% and calcium ranged from 27·25 to 44·33 mg 100 g -1 among bone types. The pH of bone marrow ranged from 7·14 to 7·53. Bone marrow appears to contribute to some of the properties of meat obtained from advanced meat recovery systems.