Biorefinery concept in the meat industry: From slaughterhouse biowastes to superaborbent materials

The expansion of food production has a large environmental impact in many ways. More specifically, 30-40% of total food production is lost as wastes and/or by-products before it reaches the market. In this sense, blood is an inevitable by-product in the meat industry that typically consists of 3-5% of the total weight of the animal. The dry organic matter present in blood is mostly protein, which can be employed more efficiently as raw material in the development of biodegradable materials. In the present manuscript, the blood collected after slaughtering of Iberian pigs was centrifuged and the upper (i.e., plasma) and bottom (i.e., red cells) layers were separated. Three freeze-dried fractions were characterized and evaluated on terms of their potential in the field of bioplastics: whole blood, plasma and bottom layer. Albumin was detected clearly in the plasma fraction, while globulins in red cells. After their characterization samples were mixed thoroughly with glycerol and injection molded at 120 degrees C. Special applications may be proposed for every fraction (i.e., whole blood, plasma or red cells), as the materials displayed different properties depending on the raw material employed. Thus, plasma resulted in materials with a greater deformability and swelling capacity during immersion, resulting in superabsorbent materials when processed at milder conditions (80 degrees C).

Automated summary

The expansion of food production has a significant environmental impact, with 30-40% of total food production lost as waste before reaching the market. Blood, a by-product in the meat industry, contains protein that can be used in the development of biodegradable materials. The potential of different fractions of pig blood (whole blood, plasma, and red cells) in the field of bioplastics was evaluated.