Production of Salmon Oil from Filleting Byproducts-Effects of Storage Conditions on Lipid Oxidation and Content of ω-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids

Food-Loss Control at the Macronutrient Level: Protein Inventory for the Norwegian Farmed Salmon Production System

The growing world population and the growing need for food are raising the importance of more efficient and sustainable food production systems. Food loss is a significant global challenge and a major stressor on natural resources. True assessment of food loss is a precursor to its reduction. This study aimed to assess the actual food loss in the Norwegian farmed salmon production system in the year 2019 by quantifying the protein flows and stocks in the system. Protein served as an indicator substance of the true systemic food loss. This study highlights the system's qualitative value-adding conversion of plant protein into higher quality marine animal protein, with deposited vital trace minerals harvested from the sea and carried to the human food chain. However, it takes a lot of protein from multiple sources to produce salmon. We found that the total invested feed protein is about four times more than the harvested salmon protein, and about 40% of that harvested protein in the salmon biomass departs the human food chain by flowing to other non-food industries. The current post-harvest practices, material trade-offs, and waste management solutions could be adjusted to a context that prioritizes human food security. An alternative scenario is presented in this study, based on a hypothetical new food product in parallel to the main salmon fillet product. The alternative scenario turned 99% of the harvested protein into food and adjusted the ratio between the invested marine protein and the human food product protein. The originality of this research is in its approach to food loss assessment at the industrial level by means of a systemic macronutrient (protein) inventory.

Systems Engineering Approach to Food Loss Reduction in Norwegian Farmed Salmon Post-Harvest Processing

The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development set the target of halving per capita global food waste and reducing food losses, including post-harvest losses. Food loss is a significant global challenge rising from the decrease in food quantities available for human consumption because of decisions and actions taken by food manufacturers and suppliers before it even reaches the retail market. Food loss within the Norwegian farmed salmon post-harvest processing system could be reduced by making change in the system’s behavior. This study, by following systems engineering principles, aimed to develop insight into the salmon post-harvest processing system’s behavioral dynamics causing current food loss and to consider conceptual keys to solutions. This study tied the food loss problem to systemic behavior of byproducts downgrading to non-food uses as the major cause. The decisions made on the materials flow are based on product design, quality control, and environmental solutions. Making a decision to conserve byproduct materials by prioritizing keeping them within the human food chain requires supportive data on their true potential as a food source. The system’s information pool that decision makers rely on can be fortified with the system’s engineering multidisciplinary outcomes that will enable the necessary paradigm shift to achieve the quested food loss reduction.

Stabilizing oils from smoked pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha)

Smoking of meats and fish is one of the earliest preservation technologies developed by humans. In this study, the smoking process was evaluated as a method for reducing oxidation of pink salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha) oils and also maintaining the quality of oil in aged fish prior to oil extraction. Salmon heads that were subjected to high temperatures (95 degrees C) during smoking unexpectedly produced oils with fewer products of oxidation than their unprocessed counterparts, as measured by peroxide value (PV), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), and fatty acids (FA). Higher temperatures and longer smoking times resulted in correspondingly lower quantities of oxidative products in the oils. Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) analysis of smoke-processed oils confirmed that polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) were not being destroyed. Smoke-processing also imparted antioxidant potential to the extracted oils. Even when antioxidants, such as ethoxyquin or butylated hydroxytoluene, were added to raw oils, the smoke-processed oils still maintained lower levels of oxidation after 14 d of storage. However, decreased antioxidant capacity of smoke-processed oils was noted when they were heated above 75 degrees C. Vitamin studies supported the antioxidant results, with smoke-processed oils displaying higher levels of alpha-tocopherol than raw oils. Results suggest that smoking salmon prior to oil extraction can protect valuable PUFA-rich oils from oxidation. Improved preservation methods for marine oils may extend their usefulness when added as a supplement to enhance levels of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in foods.