11.4 Availability of Raw Materials
243
Protein content in any particular algae varies with factors such as growth season,
temperature, harvest period, region and nutrient content of water. The types of proteins present also vary. How different species react to particular changes in growth
condition in turn affects the types of proteins they metabolize. The algae make use of
these proteins to survive and function within its environment; therefore, the stimulus
it gets from these environments determines what protein it is prompted to produce.
These factors can be used to manipulate a particular alga to produce desired type
of protein by controlling the growth environment. This requires an in-depth understanding of the correlation between environmental factors and the metabolism of
the specific species. For example, highest protein yield is obtained from the alga
K. alvarezii in August, November and February when studied over 12 months from
September 2004 to April 2006 in northwestern India (Kumar et al. 2014).
Aquatic plants such as water fern, duckweed and water hyacinth contain relatively
moderate to high amount of proteins, 28% protein content by dry weight has been
reported for water fern (Brouwer et al. 2019) and 21.5% for duckweed (AguileraMorales et al. 2018). While there are up to hundreds of thousands of species of algae,
some of which belong to the plant kingdom, there are just about a hundred species
of non-algae aquatic plants. The recent rise in algae bloom incidents in different
parts of the world further eludes to the fast rate of growth of algae. Water hyacinth,
ferns and duckweed are also fast-growing plants which can be explored as abundant
sources of aquatic proteins. While they could serve as an abundant source of proteins,
well managed and controlled systems for the cultivation of aquatic plants and algae
are important in order to avoid undesirable population blooms which could result in
devastating environmental impacts.
11.5 Extraction of Enzymes from Aquatic Organisms
The processes involved in the isolation of enzymes depend on the source from which
it is being extracted. Here we take examples of methods reported for the extraction
of enzymes from fish viscera, aquatic microorganisms and algae.
11.5.1 Enzyme Extraction from Fish Viscera
The fish viscera can be obtained as a by-product of fish processing factories, for
example, in the production of sushi, canned fish, dried fish and packed fish fillets.
In all the aforementioned processes, the internal organs of the fish are removed as
waste. The internal organs can also be collected from the fishmongers in markets.
Here the method used by Jayapriya et al. (2014) is presented as an example for the
extraction of digestive enzyme from fish viscera.
The collected organs are washed with distilled water followed by grinding. The
pH is then adjusted to 8 by adding Tris-HCl (0.02 M). Crude extract is obtained
243
Protein content in any particular algae varies with factors such as growth season,
temperature, harvest period, region and nutrient content of water. The types of proteins present also vary. How different species react to particular changes in growth
condition in turn affects the types of proteins they metabolize. The algae make use of
these proteins to survive and function within its environment; therefore, the stimulus
it gets from these environments determines what protein it is prompted to produce.
These factors can be used to manipulate a particular alga to produce desired type
of protein by controlling the growth environment. This requires an in-depth understanding of the correlation between environmental factors and the metabolism of
the specific species. For example, highest protein yield is obtained from the alga
K. alvarezii in August, November and February when studied over 12 months from
September 2004 to April 2006 in northwestern India (Kumar et al. 2014).
Aquatic plants such as water fern, duckweed and water hyacinth contain relatively
moderate to high amount of proteins, 28% protein content by dry weight has been
reported for water fern (Brouwer et al. 2019) and 21.5% for duckweed (AguileraMorales et al. 2018). While there are up to hundreds of thousands of species of algae,
some of which belong to the plant kingdom, there are just about a hundred species
of non-algae aquatic plants. The recent rise in algae bloom incidents in different
parts of the world further eludes to the fast rate of growth of algae. Water hyacinth,
ferns and duckweed are also fast-growing plants which can be explored as abundant
sources of aquatic proteins. While they could serve as an abundant source of proteins,
well managed and controlled systems for the cultivation of aquatic plants and algae
are important in order to avoid undesirable population blooms which could result in
devastating environmental impacts.
11.5 Extraction of Enzymes from Aquatic Organisms
The processes involved in the isolation of enzymes depend on the source from which
it is being extracted. Here we take examples of methods reported for the extraction
of enzymes from fish viscera, aquatic microorganisms and algae.
11.5.1 Enzyme Extraction from Fish Viscera
The fish viscera can be obtained as a by-product of fish processing factories, for
example, in the production of sushi, canned fish, dried fish and packed fish fillets.
In all the aforementioned processes, the internal organs of the fish are removed as
waste. The internal organs can also be collected from the fishmongers in markets.
Here the method used by Jayapriya et al. (2014) is presented as an example for the
extraction of digestive enzyme from fish viscera.
The collected organs are washed with distilled water followed by grinding. The
pH is then adjusted to 8 by adding Tris-HCl (0.02 M). Crude extract is obtained