Upgrading of meats using fractionation techniques

Meat is an extremely variable raw material and as such presents many problems to meat product manufacturers attempting to control final prod- 

The gelation of meat proteins is largely responsible for binding fat and water in comminuted red meat and poultry products, as well as for adhesion between meat pieces (Ziegler and Acton, 1984). 

Lawrie (1985) classified meat proteins into three types salt-soluble (myofibrillar) proteins, water-soluble (sarcoplasmic) proteins, and insoluble connective tissue proteins. The myofibrillar proteins actin, myosin and actomyosin are the major proteins responsible for determining the heat stability of comminuted meat emulsions. 

A few workers have attempted to separate lean meat into its individual protein fractions. Turner et al. (1979) fractionated meat into salt-soluble protein (SSP), insoluble myofibrillar protein (IMP), and connective tissue protein (CTP) by centrifugation. Fat was also separated. Using this technique to fractionate minced pork shoulder, Knight (1988) studied the influence of the SSP, IMP, and CTP fractions, and the effect of fat on cooking losses in model systems. The interactions between the three fractions were also examined. The composition of the individual fractions prepared is shown in Table 2.6. 

SSP = salt-soluble protein IMP = insoluble myofibrillar protein CTP = connective tissue protein. 

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