Abstract:During the tilapia fillet process, tilapia by-products (including skeletons, gills, scales, fish-skin, and viscera) are produced, which account for 60% of the total fish weight. The fish skeletons (including the head, spine, ribs, and tail) account for 40% of the total weight, and a large amount of fish meat remains on the skeleton. The effective separation of residual fish meat from the skeleton and the high-value use of fish skeletons are technical problems in the fish fillet processing industry. A pilot size device for separating fish meat from the skeleton was introduced in this study, and the effects of different heating processes on the separation of fish bone and meat were studied. The effects of stirring speed, inflow direction, and inflow velocity on the efficiency for the separation of fish bone and meat were investigated. The results showed that the separation efficiency could be significantly improved under the following conditions: stirring speedof 1000 r/min; inflow direction of the tangential direction; inflow velocityof 30 L/min. The experimental results confirmed that the fish skeletons that were cooked at high temperatures could be separated efficiently into meat, bone, and broth by this device. In addition, the separated fish meat and bone were high-quality, high-value products and could be further processed into high value-added foods.
