Major achievements in PROPEPHEALTH

High-added value functional seafood products for human health from seafood by- products by innovative mild processing

Native proteins from by-products and pelagic fish
PROPEPHEALTH has been successful in developing process lines in the pilot plants of IFL, IPIMAR and IFREMER for upgrading by-products. Alkali solubilisations and isoelectric precipitation can be used for producing proteins from lean fish than can be incorporated into high value fish products. IFREMER has been developing a promising process for extraction of both proteins and lipids from fatty fish.  The results show that extracted fish proteins can be used in fish fillets and fish blocks to improve yield. The gelation properties need to be improved to be able to apply to ready to eat products like pates, sausages and surimi like products. The use of fish proteins to reduce fat uptake in deep fried fish needs to be studied further. Oxidation is a great problem when it comes to producing dried fish proteins. The sensory quality and storage stability of such products must be improved before they can be used in food applications.

Fish protein hydrolysates and bioactive peptides
Enzymatic hydrolysates of fish from various sources from three countries have been successfully screened for various bioactive properties. Such documentation is not only important for the scientist prposes but also for the SMEs in the project. It is important for the development of their high value health product and also for the development of the market for such products. It is the first step in a long journey of having health claims officially accepted. The SMEs now have processes that have been developed for producing fractionated fish protein hydrolysates with tailor made properties. Some of the active ingredients have been partially identified. New knowledge has been generated about the influence of the raw material and process parameters on the bioactive properties of fish protein hydrolysates. A simple biuret assay can be used to follow degree of hydrolysis and how to design a production processes to tailor made products.

People in this project