Bioconversion of Fish Discards through the Production of Lactic Acid Bacteria and Metabolites: Sustainable Application of Fish Peptones in Nutritive Fermentation Media.

In the current work, we study the capacity of 30 peptones obtained by enzyme proteolysis of ten discarded fish species (hake, megrim, red scorpionfish, pouting, mackerel, gurnard, blue whiting, Atlantic horse mackerel, grenadier, and boarfish) to support the growth and metabolite production of four lactic acid bacteria (LAB) of probiotic and technological importance. Batch fermentations of Lactobacillus plantarum, L. brevis, L. casei, and Leuconostoc mesenteroides in most of the media formulated with fish peptones (87% of the cases) led to similar growths (quantified as dry-weight biomass and viable cells) and metabolites (mainly lactic acid) than in commercial control broth (MRS). Comparisons among cultures were performed by means of the parameters obtained from the mathematical fittings of experimental kinetics to the logistic equation. Modelling among experimental and predicted data from each bioproduction was generally accurate. A simple economic assessment demonstrated the profitability achieved when MRS is substituted by media formulated with fish discards: a 3-4-fold reduction of costs for LAB biomass, viable cells formation, and lactic and acetic acid production. Thus, these fish peptones are promising alternatives to the expensive commercial peptones as well as a possible solution to valorize discarded fish biomasses and by-products.

Optimal Production of Protein Hydrolysates from Monkfish By-Products: Chemical Features and Associated Biological Activities.

The aim of this work was the recovery of protein substrates from monkfish waste (heads and viscera) generated in the on-board processing of this species. Initially, the effect of pH, temperature, and protease concentration was studied on mixtures of a 1:1 ratio (w/v) of monkfish heads/water. The optimal conditions of proteolytic digestion were established at 57.4 °C, pH 8.31, [Alcalase] = 0.05% (v/w) for 3 h of hydrolysis. Later on, a set of hydrolysis at 5L-pH-stat reactor were run under the aforementioned conditions, confirming the validity of the optimization studies for the head and viscera of monkfish. Regarding the chemical properties of the fish protein hydrolysates (FPH), the yield of digestion was higher than 90% in both cases and the degrees of hydrolysis and the soluble protein content were not especially large (<20% and <45 g/L, respectively). In vitro digestibility was higher than 90% and the percentage of essential amino acids ranged from 40 to 42%. Antioxidant activities were higher in viscera FPH, and antihypertensive ability was superior in head FPH. The values of number average molecular weights (Mn) of monkfish hydrolysates were 600 Da in the viscera and 947 Da in the head. The peptide size distribution, obtained by size-exclusion chromatography, indicated that the largest presence of peptides below 1000 Da and 200 Da was observed in the viscera FPH.

Biotechnological Valorization of Food Marine Wastes: Microbial Productions on Peptones Obtained from Aquaculture By-Products.

Based on a biotechnological strategy, in the present work several peptones are produced from the Alcalase hydrolysis (0.1-0.2% v/w, 56-64 °C, pH 8.27-8.98, 3 h) and thermal processing (105 °C, 60 min) of wastes generated from the industrial processing of turbot, salmon, trout, seabream and seabass. These peptones were included (in the range of 2.6-11 g/L of soluble protein) as main source of organic nitrogen (protein substrates) in low-cost media for the culture of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), marine probiotic bacteria (MPB) and ubiquitous Gram+ bacteria. In most cases, batch fermentations conducted in aquaculture peptone media led to the best growth, metabolic productions and yields. Nevertheless, no significant differences between aquaculture peptones and commercial media were generally observed. Kinetic parameters from a logistic equation and used for cultures modeling were applied with the purpose of comparing the bioproduction outcomes. In economical terms, the validity of the aquaculture peptones as substitutives of the peptones (meat extract, casitone, etc.) from commercial media was also compared. The decreasing of the costs for LAB bioproductions ranged between 3-4 times and the growth costs of MPB and Gram+ bacteria were improved more than 70 and 15 times, respectively, in relation to those found in control commercial media.

Production of Marine Probiotic Bacteria in a Cost-Effective Marine Media Based on Peptones Obtained from Discarded Fish By-Products.

The industrial production of marine bacteria with probiotic properties is limited by the excessive cost of the culture media adequate for their growth. The present work aimed to study the suitability of 30 marine media formulated with nitrogen sources (fish peptones) from different fish discards and seawater, for the growth of two marine probiotic bacteria (MPB), namely Phaeobacter sp. and Pseudomonas fluorescens. These fish peptones were produced from several discarded fish and by-products (heads, skins, and whole individuals of megrim, mackerel, gurnard, hake, etc.). In all cultivations, no significant differences were found on cell viability when the microorganism grew on commercial or alternative media. In relation to the biomass production, the growth of Phaeobacter sp. on waste media was commonly similar or a 20% lower than observed in the control cultures. For P. fluorescens, various peptones (skin peptones of pouting and blue whiting) showed even higher productive ability than commercial peptones. An initial economical evaluation revealed that low-cost media reduced until 120 times the cost of production of MPB.

Toxicity of binary mixtures of oil fractions to sea urchin embryos.

The assumption of additive toxicity for oil compounds is related to a narcotic mode of action. However, the joint toxicity of oil fractions has not been fully investigated. A fractionation of Maya crude oil into aliphatics, aromatics and polars was performed, fractions were dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and subsequently toxicity of single fractions and binary mixtures was assessed using the sea urchin embryo test. The descriptive ability of Concentration Addition (CA), Independent Action (IA) and modifications of both models for describing the joint toxicity of mixtures has also been evaluated. The hydrocarbon content extractable with dichloromethane of the fractions dissolved in DMSO was: 12.0 ± 1.8 mg mL(-1), 39.0 ± 0.5 mg mL(-1) and 20.5 ± 2.5 mg mL(-1) for aliphatics, aromatics and polars, respectively. The toxicity of the extracts in DMSO of the fractions as EC50 (µLL(-1)) was: aliphatics (165.8-242.3)

Effects of spill-treating agents on growth kinetics of marine microalgae.

The effects of four spill-treating agents (STAs) (CytoSol, Finasol(®) OSR 51, Agma OSD 569 and OD4000) on the growth kinetics of three marine microalgae (Isochrysis galbana, Chaetoceros gracilis, Phaeodactylum tricornutum) were studied. Chlorophyll a concentration and optical density at 700 nm were assessed to describe the logistic growth of algae in batch cultures. The optical density data were initially analyzed as described for standard algal growth inhibition tests and subsequently modelled by a bivariate model, as a function of time and dose, to assess the toxic effects on growth parameters. Increasing trends in EC50 and EC10 values with time were found with the standard approach. In 8 of the 11 tests, the lag phase (λ) or the time required to achieve half the maximum biomass (τ) was significantly dependent on the STA concentration. A global parameter (EC50,τ) was calculated to summarize the effects of STAs on growth parameters in the bivariate model. The ranking of sensitivity as EC50,τ values was I. galbana>C. gracilis>P. tricornutum. For all species tested, the least toxic agent was Agma OSD 569, followed by CytoSol. The mathematical model allowed successful ecotoxicological evaluation of chemicals on microalgal growth.