Nucleic acid content of seal meat

Abstract

The contents of total nucleic acids, deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and ribonucleic acid (RNA), in seal meat and as affected by mechanical deboning or aqueous/saline washings were determined. Ribonucleic acids were the major contributors to the total nucleic acids of seal meat while they are generally the minor components of nucleic acids in bovine muscles. Mechanically separated seal meat (MSSM) had a larger content of nucleic acids than manually separated seal muscles. Thus, the concentration of DNA and RNA increased from 0·6 and 1·3 to 1·1 and 1·9-2·3 mg/g meat, respectively. Washing had a beneficial effect in decreasing the content of nucleic acids in the prepared products.