Marine powder
Transforming fish and shellfish into dry powders provides a product with good lasting qualities that is easy to distribute and to incorporate in feed and food products.
Fishmeal has a long tradition as an ingredient in feed for poultry, cattle and pigs and is the main ingredient in feed for farmed marine fish.
The handling and processing of raw materials has undergone constant change. The goal has been to preserve the raw material's nutritional value and sensory properties, as well as achieving a powder with technological properties to suit the end user.
A powder's technological properties are dependent on the type of raw material, what time of the year it is captured, processing equipment and processing parameters.
Important properties are bulk density (it's desirable with little air in the packaging), and flow (the powder must be easy to dose). Other properties include moistening and swelling in further processing of the end feed or food product.
Nofima Ingrediens has considerable experience in the development of the processes to produce marine powders and has also adapted raw materials and processes for the production of products for use in traditional dishes.
Hydrolysates
Enzymatic hydrolysis of fish raw material, particularly trimmings from the fillet industry, gives a soluble product that can be used as a feed additive, fermentation substrate during the cultivation of microorganisms and as a flavour component in foods or feed.
It has been shown that the hydrolysates have a favourable effect on the growth of farmed fish and piglets.
Several marine peptides are bioactive and have antihypertensive and immune stimulant effect.
At Nofima Ingrediens, we have experience with hydrolysis of marine raw materials, fractionated based on molecule size and produced as either a concentrate or a dry powder.
Silage
With smaller amounts of raw materials and uneven supply of hydrolysis using the raw material's own enzymes in a mixture soured with formic acid, silage is a good method of preserving the nutritional value in fish raw materials.
We have studied the connection between the raw material, freshness, ensilage method, ensilage conditions and products.
Gelatine from fish skin
At Nofima Ingrediens, we have produced gelatine from the fish skin of both coldwater and warm water species.
Gelatine from warm water species has properties comparable with normal animal gelatine, while gelatine from cold water species is weaker and has a lower melting point and is ideal as a thickening agent in chilled products.
The production of gelatine requires good control of the processing conditions, in particular temperature.
