Analysis of peptides from pigeon cerebrum: a comparison of sacrifice methods

Peptides were extracted and fractionated from pigeon cerebrum and analyzed by thin-layer chromatography, polyacrylamide disc gel electrophoresis, and amino acid analysis. A highly consistent pattern of peptides in the 700-5000 molecular weight range was obtained from each cerebral sample. A comparison was also made between cerebral peptide patterns obtained from animals sacrificed by decapitation with those from animals sacrificed by microwave irradiation. Amino acid analysis of the peptide fraction from microwaved and decapitated animals revealed slight differences in the amount and incidence of various amino acids. These differences may be due to post-mortem proteolysis in the cerebra of decapitated pigeons prior to homogenization and freezing.