The fish processing industry generates substantial waste, which, if discarded, represents a loss of potential value. Estonian multi-disciplinary teams from fishing, fish processing, science and production worked to find new uses for fish industry waste by developing an innovative way to transform it into valuable products.
By extracting raw materials such as gelatin, chitin and chitosan from fish skins, bones and other by-products, they have created nanofibrous materials with biomedical and textile applications. Latikas OÜ provided the fish waste, the scientific team from the Estonian University of Life Sciences led and developed the laboratory procedures, the Institute of Pharmacy at the University of Tartu conducted the characterization of the raw materials as well as several pharmaceutical requirements testing, and Gelatex Technologies OÜ used fish gelatin to produce novel nanofibrous leather-like textile material.
- Start date
- 1 Oct 2019
- Project locations
- Estonia
- Overall budget
- €477 515
- EU contribution
- €358 13675% of the overall budget
Results
- The project showed that high-quality raw material can be produced from the fishing industry’s waste, enabling the creation of nanofibrous materials for wound dressings and leather-like fabrics.
- During the project, the gelatin produced from the residues of the Estonian fishing industry is almost colorless, giving a clear solution when dissolved and has no unpleasant odor.
- By varying the gelatin manufacturing parameters, gelatins with different properties can be produced.
- Business card holders were crafted as an example of an accessory made of leather-like gelatin-based textile, and wound patches were created to showcase the potential of fish gelatin for wound care applications.
Contact
Anu Kisand
- Name
- Anu Kisand
- Organisation
- EESTI MAAÜLIKOOL (Estonian University of Life Sciences)
- anu [dot] kisand
emu [dot] ee - Phone number
- +372 731 3001