Recent Advances in the Recovery and Improvement of Functional Proteins from Fish Processing By-Products: Use of Protein Glycation as an Alternative Method

The recovery of proteins from fish by-products for their utilization as food ingredients is becoming of increasing interest in the food industry as they may possess good functional and nutritional properties. This article reviews the main processing methods, such as enzymatic hydrolysis, pH shifting, membrane filtration, and some emerging technologies, used for the recovery of proteins from fish processing by-products. The impact of these methods on the yield and, especially, on the functionality of the recovered proteins is discussed in detail. Considering that there is a huge amount of fish by-products destined for nonfood use, one of the current challenges of the food industry is the development of technologies that allow the recovery of ingredients from the fish processing by-products with potential to provide new and natural sources of high-value functional ingredients for human consumption. In this sense, this review explores the potential use of the glycation reaction to increase the yield of proteins extracted from fish by-products, as well as the effect of this reaction on their functional and biological properties.