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Title: Ultrasonic processing for recovery of chicken erythrocyte hemoglobin

Author
item Garcia, Rafael
item Clevenstine, Shaina
item Piazza, George

Submitted to: Journal of Food and Bioproducts Processing
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/12/2014
Publication Date: 1/10/2015
Publication URL: http://handle.nal.usda.gov/10113/60217
Citation: Garcia, R.A., Clevenstine, S.M., Piazza, G.J. 2015. Ultrasonic processing for recovery of chicken erythrocyte hemoglobin. Journal of Food and Bioproducts Processing. 94:1-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.fbp.2014.12.002.

Interpretive Summary: Hemoglobin can be used as a biobased substitute for a type of water treatment chemical that is normally made from fossil fuels. Chicken blood is an underutilized by-product of chicken processing. Chicken blood is a concentrated source of hemoglobin, but all of the hemoglobin is contained within the blood cells. This research examined the use of high frequency sound to break open cells and release the hemoglobin. Our results show that the sound treatment can burst the cells within a fraction of a second. The best conditions we tested allowed for the recovery of greater than 90% of the hemoglobin. High frequency sound treatments can damage proteins, such as hemoglobin, but we showed that the conditions we tested have no negative effect on the hemoglobin. This work represents a progress in the development of an industrial process for transforming chicken blood into a useful water treatment substance.

Technical Abstract: Hemoglobin from chicken blood has been shown to be a good substitute for synthetic polymeric flocculants. One stage of processing the blood entails breaking open the cells and releasing the cytoplasmic contents; in the present study, we investigate the use of ultrasonic processing at this stage. Washed chicken blood cells are suspended in buffer and run continuously through a chamber attached to an ultrasonic probe. The protein release kinetic parameters are determined in order to predict combinations of ultrasonic power and chamber residence time that will result in near complete hemoglobin release. Potential disadvantages of ultrasonic processing for our application include protein denaturation which could reduce flocculant activity, and extensive fragmentation of cell debris which could complicate downstream processing. Consequently, the relationship between a range of conditions for producing complete protein release and hemoglobin inactivation and cell debris fragmentation is studied to develop recommendations for minimizing these negative outcomes.