Biogenic Calcium Phosphate from Fish Discards and By-Products

Every year, millions of tons of fish waste are generated from fishing activities, and a similar amount is discarded and returned to the sea as unwanted catches. This material can be used as a biological source for many potential new added-value products, such asobtaining hyaluronic acid from fish eyeballs or extracting collagen from fish skin, but there are not many utilities for fish bones yet. This work tackles the transformation of fish discards into calcium phosphates. Discards from scorpionfish (Scorpaena scrofa) and Atlantic horse mackerel (Trachurus trachurus), as well as by-products generated from aquaculture activities (heads and trimmings frames) of salmon (Salmon salar), were used to obtain calcium phosphate. Biphasic carbonated hydroxyapatite (HA) /beta-tricalcium phosphate (TCP) material was obtained. The biphasic HA-TCP material has a promising range of applications in the biomedical field based on its similarity to calcium phosphates found in human bones in terms of crystallite size and carbonate content. The presence of Na, Mg, Sr, and K ions in the HA-TCP material is very beneficial, since they contribute to bone metabolism and cell adhesion.

Automated summary

This study focused on transforming fish discards into calcium phosphates, specifically obtaining biphasic HA-TCP material with promising applications in the biomedical field. The material is beneficial due to its similarity to human bones' calcium phosphates, and the presence of ions like Na, Mg, Sr, and K which aid in bone metabolism and cell adhesion.