Fresh water methods for reduced fluorine crustacean compositions

Abstract

Fluorine being present in the exoskeleton of crustaceans, and especially krill represents a problem for using hill as a source for food, feed, food additives and/or feed additives. There has been developed a process for removing such fluorine from krill material by subjecting the krill to disintegration and to an enzymatic hydrolysis process prior to or simultaneously with a removal of the exoskeleton particles producing a fluorine-reduced product. Inherent in the disclosed process is the ability to process krill material with a high polar lipid content for producing superior quality, low fluorine, products suitable for the food and feed as well as the pharmaceutical, neutraceutical and cosmetic industry.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 a) providing a crustacean catch;   b) adding fresh water to said crustacean catch;   c) disintegrating said crustacean catch with a disintegration apparatus in said fresh water to produce a disintegrated crustacean catch comprising shell and carapace particles, wherein said particles has a size not larger than 25 mm;   d) adding one or more proteolytic enzymes;   e) hydrolyzing said disintegrated crustacean catch with said one or more proteolytic enzymes to produce a hydrolyzed crustacean material; and   f) separating said shell and carapace particles from said hydrolyzed crustacean material with a particle removal device to produce a proteinaceous crustacean fraction having an at least 85% reduction in fluorine content as compared to a fluorine content of 1500 ppm in a conventional crustacean meal.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein said particle removal device removes a solids fraction from said hydrolyzed crustacean material. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said hydrolyzing has a duration selected from the group consisting of no longer than 100 minutes and within 60 minutes. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising deactivating said one or more proteolytic enzymes. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein said deactivating occurs at a step selected from the group consisting of before said separating, during said separating and after said separating. 
     
     
         6 . The method  claim 1 , wherein said proteinaceous crustacean fraction comprises a polar lipids concentrate. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein said polar lipids concentrate comprises phospholipids. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said disintegrated crustacean catch has a particle size ranging between approximately 0.5-10 mm. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said crustacean catch and said fresh water are in a ratio of 0.5 to 1.5 (w/w). 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said particle removal device comprises a long clarification/separation zone and is operated with a gravitational separation force between 1,000 and 1,800 g. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said particle removal device is a sedicanter. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said fresh water is heated within 1-300 seconds after said disintegrating. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said one or more proteolytic enzymes are selected from the group consisting of alkalase, neutrase, microorganism enzymes and plant enzymes. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein said deactivating comprises heating said fresh water to a temperature over 90° C. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said crustacean catch is a fresh crustacean catch. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said crustacean catch is selected from the group consisting of a krill catch and an Antarctic krill catch. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said method is performed on a fishing vessel. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein said crustacean catch has been immediately landed on said fishing vessel.