A comparison in the composition of recovered meat produced from beef neckbones processed using hand boning, a traditional Advanced Meat Recovery (AMR) system, and a Desinewated Minced Meat system.

Beef neckbones were processed through a traditional Advanced Meat Recovery system (TAMR), a Desinewated Minced Meat machine with/without prior use of Jarvis saw for removal of spinal cord (DMMJ/DMMNJ), or hand boned with/without Jarvis saw (HJ/HNJ). This study investigated the composition of meat recovered by these five methods. Ranking from the most to least total fat percentage was TAMR (22.02%), HNJ (18.37%), HJ (14.69%), DMMNJ (11.14%), and DMMJ (9.76%); higher fat was related to less moisture. Protein was most for HJ (18.32%) and least for TAMR (15.79%). TAMR and HJ were similar (P>0.05) in ash content. Calcium was most in DMMJ (79.81mg); the least was found in the hand boned (HJ, 20.86mg/100g and HNJ, 23.66mg) lean. All samples contained calcium below the required limits set by USDA-FSIS. Total iron was the highest in TAMR (5.28mg of iron/100g), followed by DMMJ (3.65mg), DMMNJ (3.46mg), HJ (2.77mg), and HNJ (2.18mg).