The Revalorization of Fishery By-Products: Types, Bioactive Compounds, and Food Applications

Area of Science:

• Marine Biology
• Biotechnology
• Food Science

Background:

• Increasing fish consumption leads to more by-products.
• Fishery by-products are often discarded, necessitating better management.
• These by-products are rich in bioactive compounds like unsaturated fatty acids, amino acids, minerals, peptides, enzymes, gelatin, collagen, and chitin.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the potential of fish by-products.
• To explore applications in food, nutraceuticals, medical, and pharmacology.
• To identify new industrial uses for fishery discards.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing scientific literature on fishery by-products.
• Analysis of reported bioactive compounds and their properties.
• Examination of current and potential industrial applications.

Main Results:

• Fishery by-products possess antioxidant, antihypertensive, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and antiobesity properties.
• Applications include hydrolysates, collagen, gelatin, chitin, chitosan, and Omega-3 oils.
• Significant interest exists across food, nutraceutical, medical, and pharmaceutical sectors.

Conclusions:

• Fish by-products represent a valuable, underutilized resource.
• Further research is needed to identify novel applications in the food and other industries.
• Sustainable management of fishery discards can yield significant economic and health benefits.