MORPHOLOGY AND THERMAL STABILITY OF FISH BONE EXTRACT POWDER AND FISH BONE HYDROXYAPATITE EXTRACTED FROM GROUPER FISH Epinephelus diacanthus FILLETING BY PRODUCT

A fish filleting waste or by product is a form of waste generated from the fish processing plants that contains essential minerals. In terms of food and nutrition, fish bones are rich in calcium and phosphorus. In addition, hydroxyapatite can also be produced from fish skeletal frame and it has wide applications. Therefore, there is a great potential in marine bioprocess industry to convert and utilize more of these by-products as valuable products. These minerals can be recovered by using different extraction methods.  

In the present study, fish bone extract powder (BEP) and fish bone hydroxyapatite (HA) has been extracted from Grouper fish (Epinephelus diacanthus) filleting by product by simple alkaline and thermal calcination methods, respectively. Fish bone extract powder (BEP) was extracted by boiling fish frames in 2 % Sodium hydroxide solution with the ratio of 1:5 (Fish frame to NaOH) at 80-90ºC for 30 min. In the thermal calcination process, 1 g fish BEP was heated to 900 ◦C for 5 h. in the muffle furnace.

The fish BEP and fish bone HA was characterized by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).The SEM results (Fig.1) indicated that fish BEP and fish bone  HA. consisted of ˂50µm particle size with spherical and rod shaped structure and also agglomeration of particles was found. TGA result (Fig.2) shows that Fish bone HA is very much stable to higher temperature. This study suggests that fish bone hydroxyapatite extracted from fish filleting waste is a hopeful biomaterial for artificial bone invention and also this would help to utilize the seafood processing waste effectively by reducing environmental pollution.