BACKGROUND: According to an FAO report, carp are the cheapest and by far the most commonly consumed fish in the world. Carp have minimal growth requirements, yet rapid growth rates. Although carp are generally considered unsuitable for human consumption in the USA, they have rapidly started populating major bodies of fresh water in the USA to the extent that commercial processing becomes of interest. However, typical mechanical means of meat recovery from carp are impractical owing to the bony nature of the carp carcass. Therefore the aim of the present study was to devise processing strategies to recover fish meat from carp that could be used in the development of human food products.
Isoelectric solubilization/precipitation (ISP) at acidic and basic pH was applied to whole carp, yielding proteins, lipids, and insolubles. The objective was to characterize composition of recovered materials. Crude protein was concentrated to 89-90% in proteins recovered at acidic pH and to 94-95% at basic pH. Basic pH yielded proteins with more (P < 0.05) essential amino acids (EAAs). EAA content in recovered proteins met FAO/WHO/UNO requirements. ISP did not affect fatty acid (FA) composition. Lipids recovered at acidic pH contained 88-89% of total fat and at basic pH, 94-97%. Total fat in recovered proteins was low, with EPA and DHA at the highest (P < 0.05) percentage for pH 11.5. ISP, particularly basic pH, effectively removed impurities such as bones and scales from whole carp. This is indicated by 3.8-5.8% of ash in recovered proteins compared to 11.2% for whole carp and 5.4% for boneless/skinless carp fillets. Basic pH yielded less (P < 0.05) Ca, P, and Mg in recovered proteins. These minerals were more (P < 0.05) concentrated in insolubles recovered with basic pH. This study indicates that materials recovered from whole carp using ISP have high nutritional value and may be useful in the development of human food and animal feeds.
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