disclosed is a continuous process for separating or extracting proteins from a low grade mixture of a protein of interest , other proteins , impurities , and salts in a continuous simulated moving bed separation process . the invention provides for direct extraction of heme protein and plant protein from a crude mixture of such proteins , other proteins , impurities and salts using the chromatographic technique of simulated moving bed continuous chromatography . the smb process combines the steps of feed loading , adsorbent washing , product elution , adsorbent regeneration , and adsorbent equilibration . the novel strong anion exchange resin adsorbent is a quaternary amine cross - linked microcellulose wherein the microcellulose is cross - linked with epichlorohydrin and the quaternary amine is 2 , 3 - epoxypropyltrimethyl - ammonium chloride which exhibits selective adsorption of proteins and complete regeneration . purified protein separated in this manner may provide human health benefits by providing greater medicinal and nutrition opportunities from low quality protein sources .