Cultivation of Ulva fenestrata using herring production process waters increases biomass yield and protein content
Artikel i vetenskaplig tidskrift, 2022

Ulva spp. (sea lettuce) has recently gained attention as a sustainable protein source due to its high productivity and many nutritional properties interesting for the food industry. In this study, we explored a possible industrial symbiosis between herring production processing industries and Ulva fenestrata cultivation. We show that U. fenestrata cultivated in herring production process waters had four to six times higher biomass yields (27.17 - 37.07 g fresh weight vs. 6.18 g fresh weight) and three times higher crude protein content (> 30% dry weight vs. 10% dry weight) compared to U. fenestrata cultivated in seawater. Along with the elevation of protein, the herring production process waters also significantly increased levels of all essential amino acids in the seaweed biomass. The content of some heavy metals (arsenic, mercury, lead, and cadmium) was well below the maximum allowed levels in foodstuff. Therefore, quantities of biomass around 100 g dry weight could be consumed daily following the US Environmental Protection Agency’s reference doses. Combined, the results show that cultivation of U. fenestrata in herring production process waters has great potential to produce sustainable proteins for the growing world population. At the same time, nutrients of currently discarded process waters are circulated back to the food chain.

wastewater

aquaculture

arsenic

seaweed

proteins

process water

macroalgae

food production

Författare

Kristoffer Stedt

Göteborgs universitet

Oscar Gustavsson

Göteborgs universitet

Barbro Kollander

Livsmedelsverket

Ingrid Undeland

Chalmers, Biologi och bioteknik, Livsmedelsvetenskap

Gunilla B. Toth

Göteborgs universitet

Henrik Pavia

Göteborgs universitet

Frontiers in Marine Science

2296-7745 (eISSN)

Vol. 9 988523

Ämneskategorier

Förnyelsebar bioenergi

Livsmedelsvetenskap

Kemiska processer

DOI

10.3389/fmars.2022.988523

Mer information

Senast uppdaterat

2023-10-27