Pink and chum salmon. Photo credit: Scott Smiley.
Micro-encapsulated Fish Oil Powder from Alaskan Salmon Oil
Problem: Alaska fishmeal operators produce ~30,000 metric tons (mt) of unrefined fish oil annually. This fish oil is often burned as fuel in fish plants to reduce operating costs. While most of the available fish oil comes from whitefish, there is a considerable amount of salmon oil available as well. Salmon oil contains high quantities of omega-3 fatty acids that play an important role in human health. A more refined and enhanced salmon oil should have significant markets in the baby food, nutraceutical and as a healthful food industries. The easiest way to incorporate salmon oil in these products is in a microencapsulated form. Microencapsulated salmon oil should find new markets as a healthful food ingredient that can be added to manufactured foods.
Solution & Approach: This project is ongoing. We will enrich the DHA content of salmon oil by using an enzyme-based approach. We are also developing methodologies for micro-encapsulating the oil – thereby imparting greater stability as an ingredient. Product acceptance and market analysis will be performed in conjunction with a shelf-life study. The dry powders may appeal to a broader range of consumers when it applied to candy or snacks, bread, cookies, pizza toppings, and other products such as chicken nuggets and sausages.
Principal Investigator: Subramaniam Sathivel