Comparison of high pressure water to whizard knife removal of beef and pork tissue from vertebrae

High pressure water (110 kPa) was compared to the Whizard knife (WK) with r espect to quantity and composition of tissue recovered from thoracic, lumba r, and cervical vertebrae of swine and beef carcasses. High pressure water (HPW) recovered tissue contained less collagen than that recovered using th e WK. A higher percentage of tissue was recovered from beef bones by WK tha n by HPW, but HPW tissue was higher in noncollagen protein. Recovery differ ed due to vertebral location, thoracic and lumbar vertebrae yielded a highe r percentage of tissue than did cervical vertebrae. Centrifugation at 4000 x g was required to reduce the moisture content of HPW-recovered tissue to that of WK-recovered tissue. Fat content of HPW-recovered beef tissue was l ower than that of WK-recovered tissue, however the reverse was true for tis sue recovered from pork vertebrae. Recovery method had no effect on total p rotein or ash content.