About this Research Topic

Background

Within the fishery and aquaculture sectors, the management of by-products such as fish bones, skins, and entrails presents both a significant challenge and an opportunity for sustainable development. As global fish consumption grows alongside rising population and nutrition standards, the outputs of these industries increasingly strain both ecosystems and waste management systems. The bulk of these by-products is typically processed into fish meal or discarded, contributing to ecological imbalances and raising socio-economic concerns. Moreover, fishery discards returned to their environments also pose substantial waste issues, demanding urgent scientific and industrial attention.

This Research Topic aims to address sustainable practices and technological innovations that turn fish waste into value-added products for direct human consumption and commercial use. It explores how waste material can be repurposed into bioactive compounds such as proteins, carbohydrates, collagen, polyunsaturated fatty acids, chitin, polyphenols, carotenoids, vitamins, alkaloids, tocopherols, pigments and minerals. By leveraging these substances, it is possible to contribute to health, nutrition, and environmental sustainability by creating new functional food products and enhancing existing ones.

To enhance a compound's bioactivity, it is crucial to assess the quality and suitability of the raw material, and to select the appropriate pre-treatment, extraction methods, and purification levels. Additionally, evaluating bioavailability, interactions with other ingredients, nutritional and biotechnological properties, sensory aspects, compatibility within the food matrix, and the compound's safety are all critical factors.

To gather further insights in the sustainable utilization of fishery by-products and discards, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

- Quality control and pretreatment practices of fish by-products intended for human consumption.

- Techniques for developing innovative food products derived from fish waste.

- Comparative nutritional analyses of conventional foods and those developed from fishery waste.

- Development of foods enriched or fortified with biocompounds or derived from fishery waste.

- Evaluation of extraction and purification processes that optimize the bioactivity and food matrix integration of biocompounds.

- Valorization strategies applied to the food industry from a circular economy perspective

- Recent advances, challenges and limitations for the application of biocomposites derived from fish waste in the food industry.

In harnessing multidisciplinary approaches, this collection of articles aims to illuminate new pathways that enhance resource efficiency in the fishery sector while adding economic value to underutilized by-products.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Clinical Trial
• Community Case Study
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Fish waste, waste utilization, bio-active compounds, functional properties, bioactivities, nutrient bioavailability, nutritional quality, functional foods, healthier diets, nutrient fortification, dietary supplements, innovative foods

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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