Sustainable Collagen Extraction from Fish Bones: A Green Solution for Waste Management

The global food industry's exponential growth has made it crucial to assess food waste. In this study, collagen extraction from waste fish bones was carried out in the presence of 0.5 M acetic acid. The physicochemical properties of the successfully obtained collagen were determined by Ultraviolet and Visible Spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). The results of UV-Vis Spectra of collagen showed maximum absorption at 238 nm. The extracted collagen was found to have a triple helix structure by UV-Vis and FTIR analysis. It was determined that it was semi-crystalline with the XRD diffraction pattern. The thermal denaturation temperature was between 129 ºC and 141 ºC with a flow rate of -4.881 mW (141 ºC) and the enthalpy change (ΔH) was 39.2 mJ/mg. The study has shown that sufficient collagen can be isolated from fish waste simply and inexpensively. Moreover, the present study found that collagen obtained from fish processing waste can be used as a high-value-added material in many areas for various industrial purposes, such as the cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. Most importantly, processing waste can be utilized, and environmental pollution can be prevented.