Integrated process for producing meat protein, broth, myoglobin pigment, fat and bone meal

A method of making functional and natural meat muscle protein, meat muscle pigment, broth, animal fat and bone meal from animal carcass by-products, said method comprising:

• a) comminuting animal carcass by-products under conditions sufficient to break meat muscle cell membranes thereby releasing meat muscle protein;
• b) contacting the comminuted animal carcass by-products with saline having an ionic strength between about 0.1 to 0.9, under conditions suitable to form a solid-phase fraction and a solution-phase fraction, wherein said solid-phase fraction contains bone, fat, fat soluble organic materials, and connective tissue and said solution-phase fraction contains soluble meat muscle protein and myoglobin pigment;
• c) separating the solid-phase fraction of step (b) from the solution-phase fraction of step (b);
• d) adjusting the pH of the solution-phase fraction to the isoelectric point of said meat muscle protein so as to precipitate the soluble meat muscle protein in the solution-phase fraction of step (c), thereby forming a meat muscle protein curd fraction, and a solution-phase fraction containing myoglobin pigment;
• e) separating the meat muscle protein curd fraction of step (d) from the solution-phase myoglobin pigment fraction;
• f) adjusting the pH of the protein curd fraction of step (e) to a pH selected from between about 5.5 to 7.0 to form a meat muscle protein product, and adding a nitrogen oxide generating compound to said solution-phase pigment fraction of step (e), thereby denaturing the myoglobin pigment in the solution-phase myoglobin pigment fraction;
• g) filtering the denatured myoglobin pigment of step (f) to form a meat myoglobin pigment cake and a residual saline solution;
• h) drying and milling the meat pigment cake of step (g) to form a powder, and recycling the residual saline solution of step (g) to step (b);
• i) cooking the solid-phase fraction of step (c) under conditions sufficient to convert substantially all connective tissue in said fraction into soluble collagen, thereby forming a broth-fat fraction-and a bone-residue fraction;
• j ) drying and milling the bone-residue fraction of step (i) to form a bone-meal;
• k) separating the broth-fat fraction of step (i) into fat and broth fractions;
• l) refining the fat of step (k) to produce a fat-product;
• and
• m) concentrating the broth of step (k) to form a broth-product.