Production of functional spent hen protein hydrolysate powder and its fortification in food supplements: A waste to health strategy

Spent hens are discarded from the poultry industry as they lose their ability to lay eggs and are rendered unsuitable for consumption due to poor meat quality. This work provides a strategy to utilize spent hen meat by developing protein hydrolysates with enhanced antioxidative properties for developing functional protein supplement which was previously unexplored. Spent hen meat was hydrolysed using two proteases (alcalase and flavourzyme) followed by drying (spray and freeze drying). Hydrolysate powders thus generated were further characterized for their physico-chemical and functional attributes. Particle size and morphology were more prominently affected by drying method while the functional properties were influenced by the enzyme type. The solubility, antioxidant activity and bioaccessibility of spray dried spent hen hydrolysate powder developed using flavourzyme (SD-SPHF) was found superior to those developed using alcalase. Hydrophobic amino acids with rich antioxidant activity were also found to be higher in SD-SPHF. Considering higher functionality of SD-SPHF, it was incorporated @10% in whey protein supplement and was found to be acceptable from a sensory viewpoint. The study highlights that spent hen protein hydrolysate powders can be effectively utilized for the development of economic functional food supplements after suitable biotechnological interventions.