and operate these methods. Processing equipment must be adequate to 

 handle the volume of material required for economic production. 



Possibility of Preparin^^ Amino Acids from Salmon Cannery Waste 



Isolation of amino acids from natural proteins is a comparatively 

 expensive procedure. The content of any particular amino acid rnn -es 

 from less than 1 percent to 5 or 6 percent in most proteins. This 

 means that a large quantity (20 to 100 times) of raw material must be 

 processed to obtain a small amount of the pure amino acid. There are, 

 of course, some notable exceptions. For exajiiple, while the protein of 

 salmon flesh is reported to contain about 5 percent of the amino acid a 

 arginine, salmon milt yields a simple protein "salmine" which is re- 

 ported to contain about 88 percent arginine. In the case that the mar- 

 ket for this amino acid increased greatly, it appears that production 

 of arginine from Alaskan salmon milt would be economically possible. 

 The raw Alaskan salmon milt could be obtained at very low cost. Mar- 

 kets for amino acids, while somewhat limited and competitive ?t present, 

 seem likely to expand in the future. In considering the advantages of 

 using certain portions or all of the salmon cannery waste because of its 

 low procurement cost and the possibility of its being a rich source of 

 the materials sought, it must be kept in mind that various disadvantages 

 are to be encountered in attempting to operate recovery processes in 

 Alaska. Further investigation into methods of isolation of amino acids 

 from salmon cannery waste is indicated. Determination of yields of speci- 

 fic amino acids from various portions of the waste is necessary before 

 any definite conclusions concerning this type of utilization can be con- 

 sidered for economic commercial development. 



Fats and Lipids 



Chemical nature 



Fats and lipids constitute a group of naturally occurring organic compounds 

 characterized by their insolubility in water and their solubility in 

 "fat solvents" such as ether, chloroform, hot alcohol, and benzene, sim- 

 ple lipids are esters of fatty acids and glycerol; those solid at room 

 temperature are teraed fats and those that are liquid are called oils. 

 Compound lipids are esters of fatty acids combined with other substances, 

 for example, phosphatides (lecithin and cephalin) ^nd cholesterol. Fats 

 are further classified into saturated and unsaturated depending upon 

 whether or not the bonds between the carbon atoms are saturated with hy- 

 drogen or other chemical groups. The special properties of the various 

 types of lipids make them especially valuable for a number of uses. 

 The simple saturated fats are useful because of their freedom from ranci- 

 dity and spoilage, while the unsaturated fats are highly valuable because 

 of their ability to combine with ox;^/gen to form hard films. The un- 

 saturated fats are widely used as food, soap stock, etc., after having their 

 unsaturated bonds hyarogenated. The phospholipids (lecithins) are partic- 

 ularly valuable because of their emulsifying power wluch is widely used 

 in the chocolate, baking and cosmetic industries. 



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