12.5 Extraction of Collagen
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peptides, another enzyme is then used to break the bonds between the polypeptide
chains. Since these enzymes act on specific sites, a different enzyme is required for
this. Here, the collagenase enzyme is used at 5% w/w composition.
12.6 Environmental Implication
This section discusses some key issues associated with collagen extraction from
aquatic resources. Some of these are positive environmental impacts while some are
adverse. The overall environmental impact is therefore a sum of the positive and
negative impacts for the specific source and type of extraction process.
12.6.1 Jellyfish Blooms
In recent years, rapid rise in population of jellyfish has become an environmental
nuisance in various parts of the world including Asia, the USA, Europe and Australia
(Dong 2019). This has had devastating effects and economic losses in the fisheries
industry and other related industries. Fishermen have reported frequent fishing trips
resulting in the fishing nets filled with large amounts of giant jellyfish with little or
no fish. Most of the jellyfish caught results in wasted efforts and resources and in
some cases poses risk to the lives of the fishermen. One of the measures to address
this is to utilize the jellyfish for production of much-needed biopolymer products
like collagen. These jellyfish feed on plankton at a relatively faster rate than small
fish. Most population blooms as seen with the algae blooms, result in an eventual
decline as the food runs out and the jellyfish begin to die out and decay. This is
likely to result in another severe environmental problem in the aquatic environment.
Therefore, capturing them and utilizing them for the production of biopolymers such
as collagen is one way of abating the problem until a more permanent solution os
developed for reversing the bloom.
12.6.2 Fisheries Waste Management
Processing of fish waste for the extraction of collagen is beneficial to the environment
in the sense that it prevents the accumulation of fish waste which results in environmental deterioration and health hazard. One issue with processing of fish is the fishy
smell associated with fish. This is largely due to the presence of trimethylamine
oxide TMAO (Subramaniam 2018). One of the advantages of collagen as a naturally
sourced biopolymer is that it can utilize fish waste and does not require special conditions for the cultivation of fish for collagen production. Collagenous waste makes
a good fraction of the fish waste which would otherwise be discarded as waste if not
271
peptides, another enzyme is then used to break the bonds between the polypeptide
chains. Since these enzymes act on specific sites, a different enzyme is required for
this. Here, the collagenase enzyme is used at 5% w/w composition.
12.6 Environmental Implication
This section discusses some key issues associated with collagen extraction from
aquatic resources. Some of these are positive environmental impacts while some are
adverse. The overall environmental impact is therefore a sum of the positive and
negative impacts for the specific source and type of extraction process.
12.6.1 Jellyfish Blooms
In recent years, rapid rise in population of jellyfish has become an environmental
nuisance in various parts of the world including Asia, the USA, Europe and Australia
(Dong 2019). This has had devastating effects and economic losses in the fisheries
industry and other related industries. Fishermen have reported frequent fishing trips
resulting in the fishing nets filled with large amounts of giant jellyfish with little or
no fish. Most of the jellyfish caught results in wasted efforts and resources and in
some cases poses risk to the lives of the fishermen. One of the measures to address
this is to utilize the jellyfish for production of much-needed biopolymer products
like collagen. These jellyfish feed on plankton at a relatively faster rate than small
fish. Most population blooms as seen with the algae blooms, result in an eventual
decline as the food runs out and the jellyfish begin to die out and decay. This is
likely to result in another severe environmental problem in the aquatic environment.
Therefore, capturing them and utilizing them for the production of biopolymers such
as collagen is one way of abating the problem until a more permanent solution os
developed for reversing the bloom.
12.6.2 Fisheries Waste Management
Processing of fish waste for the extraction of collagen is beneficial to the environment
in the sense that it prevents the accumulation of fish waste which results in environmental deterioration and health hazard. One issue with processing of fish is the fishy
smell associated with fish. This is largely due to the presence of trimethylamine
oxide TMAO (Subramaniam 2018). One of the advantages of collagen as a naturally
sourced biopolymer is that it can utilize fish waste and does not require special conditions for the cultivation of fish for collagen production. Collagenous waste makes
a good fraction of the fish waste which would otherwise be discarded as waste if not