Author(s): PONSANO, E. H. G.; GRASSI, T. L. M.; SANTO, E. F. E.; LIMA, L. K. F.; PEREIRA, R. C.

Summary: This study represents an example of the classical concept of biotechnology as ?the use of living organisms to make useful products and provide services?. Its purpose was to investigate the ability of phototrophic bacterium Rubrivivax gelatinosus to cause the depollution of an industrial byproduct and work as an ingredient for animal feed as a way of making the productive process more sustainable. First, the bacterium was grown in fish industry effluent (inoculum at 1% v/v, 30 +- 5 oC, 2000 +- 500 lux, 7 days) and recovered as a biomass (microfiltration + centrifugation + lyophilization), resulting in a decrease of ca. 80% in the Chemical Oxygen Demand of the pollutant efluente and so placing it within the required limits for wastewaters discard in Brazil. Next, the biomass was characterized as a non toxic product (hippocratic screening) provided of nutritional and technological properties due to its composition - 46% protein, 17% lipid, 5% minerals and 0.3% red oxycarotenoids. Further, the biomass was used as an ingredient to feed cultured tilapias (0, 175, 350, 700 or 1400 mg/kg, 80 days) providing increases on the redness well as on the protein and the carotenoid contentes of the fish fillets, besides a delay on the meat rancidity up to 80 days of storage under freezing. So, it was demonstrated the biotechnological application of R gelatinosus biomass, contributing to the sustainability in fish raising and processing and so providing benefits to environment, industry and consumers.

Publication year: 2018

Types of publication: Paper in annals and proceedings

Unit: Embrapa Fisheries and Aquaculture

Keywords: Biotecnologia, Chemical oxygen demand, Color, Fish production, Microbial biomass, Peixe, Proteína Microbiana, Rancidity, Rubrivivax gelatinosus, Tilapia (common name), Tilápia