A comparative life cycle assessment of cross-processing herring side streams with fruit pomace or seaweed into a stable food protein ingredient

Journal article, 2022

One approach to improve the sustainability of food processing is the recovery of valuable compounds from food industry's side streams. In this study a life cycle assessment (LCA) was used to quantify the potential environmental impacts of cross-processing herring side streams with different antioxidant-rich biomasses, so-called helpers, for the extraction of a protein ingredient that is stable against lipid oxidation. New primary experimental data was combined with literature values to model cross-processing of herring with different helpers, namely, lingonberry pomace, apple pomace, and brown and green seaweed. Different addition ratios and delayed addition of the pomace were also assessed for cross-processing herring with lingonberry pomace. The environmental performance of the resulting protein ingredients were assessed on a mass and delivered protein basis. Potential environmental impacts for climate change, energy consumption, land occupation, and depletion of marine resources were addressed. No ingredient performed better in all environmental impact categories, but delaying the helper addition had the most significant influence in reducing the product's environmental impacts. This study's outcomes enable analysts to direct research towards the most relevant parameters for producing a protein ingredient with lower environmental impact.