Process waters from the seafood industry contain valuable nutrients, that could be used in food or aquaculture feed. But the process waters are treated as waste. Researchers now show the potential of recycling these nutrients back into the food chain.
Process waters from the seafood industry contain valuable nutrients, that could be used in food or aquaculture feed. But the process waters are treated as waste. Researchers now show the potential of recycling these nutrients back into the food chain.
During preparation of herring, shrimps and mussels, large amounts of process water are continuously pumped out as waste by the seafood industry. The water is used when boiling shrimps or mussels, or when filleting, salting and marinating herring, for example. Approximately 7000-8000 liters of water is used to prepare a ton of marinated herring. A stunning 50,000 liters of water is needed per ton of peeled shrimps, or per three tons of raw shrimp.
But these side stream waters contain proteins, peptides, fats and micronutrients, which could be recycled and used, for example by the food industry, as an ingredient in feed or for growing microalgae. In fact, the leftover boiled water from shrimp preparation is basically a ready-made stock.
Nutrients could be recycled
The Nordic project NoVAqua, coordinated by Professor Ingrid Undeland of the Department of Biology and Biological Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology, has now shown the potential of extracting these important nutrients from the process waters.
Read more at Chalmers University of Technology
Image: Ingrid Ungeland (r), Professor in Biology and Biological Engineering and Bita Forghani Targhi, post-doctoral researcher at the division of Food and Nutrition Science, from Chalmers University of Technology. (Credit: Johan Bodell/Chalmers University of Technology)
