Abstract Ham processing generates significant volumes of brine, a saline wastewater with untapped potential. This study compared three protein recovery methods: direct centrifugation, moderate heat treatment (75 °C), and a combined pH-shift–mild heat approach (65 °C). Both the pH-shift–mild heat (PSMH) method and moderate heat precipitation produced protein concentrates with the highest initial protein contents (62.15–62.81%), which increased to 91.65–95.59% purity after desalting, with NaCl levels reduced to 1.5%. Amino acid analysis revealed that PSMH-derived proteins had the highest total amino acid content (96.58 g/100 g). SDS-PAGE confirmed improved recovery of muscle proteins, while FTIR indicated that moderate heat treatment reduced the α-helix/β-sheet ratio. Proteins recovered using PSMH exhibited the highest water and fat binding capacities and maintained solubility across a broad pH range. They also exhibited strong foaming ability, although they showed slightly lower foam stability than proteins recovered by other methods, and they demonstrated emulsifying properties that were optimal under mildly alkaline conditions. Overall, PSMH presents a sustainable and efficient strategy for recovering functional proteins from ham brine for use in food and feed applications.
Ujong et al. (Mon,) studied this question.