Matrixes

Poultry production is large, and the production is increasing. In Europe poultry annually generates over 13 million tons of product, resulting in a significant amount of waste and by-products. By-products range between 33 – 43% of the live weight. With a production of 13 million tons of poultry produced this gives between 4.3 and 5.6 million tons of byproducts generated.

Byproducts includes all the material that is left after the main products (i.e.) fillets have been removed e.g.: head, foot, bones, viscera, feathers, and blood. Poultry by-products and wastes are generated at every slaughtering plant and for further utilization of these it is important that they are preserved or processed rapidly.

Application of animal byproducts is strictly regulated by the EU. Around 80 % of poultry by-products are used as a low value animal feed in forms of feather meal and blood meal with a market value of around 35 € per ton. Another application is the use for energy production (5% of by-products), and the sludge is used for soil improvement (15% of by-products).

Chicken by-products contain both high amounts of high-quality proteins as well as valuable lipids and minerals that have the potential to be used for production of value-added products. Rest raw materials from poultry have large variations in the major constituents such as fat, proteins and minerals. These variations depend on the breed, age, rearing system, and feed used to produce the chicken.

• Production. http://www.fao.org/poultry-production-products/production/en/.
• Lasekan, A., Abu Bakar, F., and Hashim, D. “Potential of chicken by-products as sources of useful biological resources”. In: Waste Management 3 (2013), pp. 552-565.