Abstract:Scallop skirts are by-products of scallop processing that are rich in nutrients such as proteins and lipids. Owing to the limitations of the existing processing technology, they have not been used on a large scale and are not currently of much value. In this study, to effectively utilize the scallop skirt, neutral protease, animal-complex protease, flavor protease, papain, and acidic proteinase were used to hydrolyze the scallop skirt. The free amino acid nitrogen content in the hydrolysate was used as an indicator for optimized reaction conditions. First, alcohol was used to degrease the scallop skirt, which increased the degree of enzymatic hydrolysis. Subsequently, single-factor experiments were performed on five enzymes to select the optimize enzymatic hydrolysis time, temperature, pH, and enzyme dosage. Subsequently, orthogonal experiments were performed to determine the optimum hydrolysis conditions for the five enzymes. The results showed that the amino acid conversion rate of the hydrolysate prepared under the optimum hydrolysis conditions was as high as 77%. In previous studies, calcium chloride was determined to be the most suitable calcium source. The scallop shell was used as a raw material to obtain calcium chloride by acid treatment and water flying, and then calcium chloride was mixed with compound amino acids in the hydrolysate to prepare complex amino acid-chelated calcium. The calcium ion content in the chelated calcium was chosen as an index; subsequently, single factor experiments were performed to determine the time, temperature, and pH of the chelation process. The optimum chelating conditions were screened by an orthogonal experiment. A chelation rate of up to 92% was obtained in the final products. The compound amino acid-chelated calcium not only functions as a calcium supplement, but also has a delicious taste; it can be used as a calcium supplement or functional condiment. Our findings will assist in achieving additional value from scallop-processing waste, and also provide us with novel insights and methods for high-value utilization of other aquatic processing waste.
