Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of the ultrafiltration process (UF) in the cleansing treatment of the tilapia surimi washing water and in the recovery of components. After producing surimi, the water generated in the washing operations was subjected to UF in a 30 kDa polyethersulfone membrane. Unfiltered washing waters and UF permeate and concentrate were analyzed for pH, total solids (TS) and fixed solids (FS), total proteins, and lipids. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) was determined in the original water and in the permeate. The concentrate was dehydrated in a spray dryer and analyzed for amino acids and carotenoids. The permeate showed a significant decrease in TS, proteins and COD, indicating that UF was efficient in removing the organic load from the waters. The percentage of protein recovery by UF was 93.12% and the dehydrated concentrate had all the essential amino acids, being leucine (5.47%), lysine (6.49%), valine (3.59%), and phenylalanine (3.68%) those with the highest concentrations, and also 0.67 mg/100 g of carotenoids. The application of UF has proved to be viable both in the recovery of valuable compounds and in the decontamination of water, contributing to the sustainability of the fish productive sector.

Abstract The proteins recovered by ultrafiltration (UF) represent a co-product of fish industrialization and can be used as a protein ingredient in the fortification of food formulations. The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of surimi fishburger elaborated with the proteins recovered by UF from the wastewater generated in the production of surimi. The water generated in the washing operations of trims of farmed tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) were filtered in a 30 kDa polyethersulfone membrane. The recovered proteins were dehydrated in spray dryer and added at 5 and 10% into fishburgers made with tilapia surimi. The fishburgers were evaluated for proximal composition, cooking yield, sensory parameters and acceptability. The incorporation of proteins into the fishburgers improved the sensory aspects of the final product and provided greater acceptability while maintaining the same manufacturing yield. The addition of 10% of the recovered proteins increased the nutritional value of surimi fishburgers.