Environmental Sustainability Assessment of a Filtration–Diafiltration Strategy for Recovering Savory Compounds from Mussel Cooking Water

Cadena, Erasmo; Dewulf, Jo; San Martin, David; Ibarruri, Jone; Iñarra, Bruno; Gutierrez, Monica

doi:10.3390/membranes15080242

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Open AccessArticle

Environmental Sustainability Assessment of a Filtration–Diafiltration Strategy for Recovering Savory Compounds from Mussel Cooking Water

by

Erasmo Cadena

^1,*

,

Jo Dewulf

¹

,

David San Martin

²

,

Jone Ibarruri

²

,

Bruno Iñarra

²

and

Monica Gutierrez

²

¹

Sustainable Systems Engineering (STEN), Department of Green Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, B, 9000 Ghent, Belgium

²

AZTI, Food Research, Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Parque Tecnológico de Bizkaia, Astondo Bidea, Edificio 609, 48160 Derio-Bizkaia, Spain

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Membranes 2025, 15(8), 242; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes15080242

Submission received: 7 July 2025 / Revised: 5 August 2025 / Accepted: 6 August 2025 / Published: 8 August 2025

(This article belongs to the Section Membrane Applications for Water Treatment)

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Abstract

Global seafood production and consumption have increased in recent years, leading to a significant rise in side streams. Process waters are often disposed as wastewater, causing difficulties for industries in meeting the discharge standards. This is particularly relevant to the mussel processing industry, where one-third of the raw material ends up as high-organic content effluent. This study aims to optimize a nanofiltration–diafiltration (NF–DF) strategy to recover valuable savory compounds from mussel cooking water, to reduce the effluent organic pollution, and to evaluate its environmental sustainability using Life Cycle Assessment. Pilot trials lead to a configuration, combining a volumetric concentration factor of 10 in NF and 20 in DF, which achieved enhanced protein concentration (1.5-fold), amino acid concentration (5.2-fold), and COD removal (98.2%). The environmental assessment highlighted electricity consumption during NF and DF as the primary environmental hotspot, resulting in a carbon footprint of 0.12 kg CO₂ eq. kg⁻¹ of savory compounds and water use of 0.65 m³ deprived kg⁻¹. Prospective scenarios projected that ongoing energy system transitions could significantly reduce climate change and acidification impacts by over 75% by 2050. The proposed NF–DF strategy enhances resource efficiency and sustainability in seafood processing by recovering high-value compounds and facilitating water reuse.

Keywords: savory compounds recovery; nanofiltration system scale-up; volumetric concentration factor; environmental sustainability; Life Cycle Assessment; seafood side streams; carbon footprint; freshwater eutrophication

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MDPI and ACS Style

Cadena, E.; Dewulf, J.; San Martin, D.; Ibarruri, J.; Iñarra, B.; Gutierrez, M. Environmental Sustainability Assessment of a Filtration–Diafiltration Strategy for Recovering Savory Compounds from Mussel Cooking Water. Membranes 2025, 15, 242. https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes15080242

AMA Style

Cadena E, Dewulf J, San Martin D, Ibarruri J, Iñarra B, Gutierrez M. Environmental Sustainability Assessment of a Filtration–Diafiltration Strategy for Recovering Savory Compounds from Mussel Cooking Water. Membranes. 2025; 15(8):242. https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes15080242

Chicago/Turabian Style

Cadena, Erasmo, Jo Dewulf, David San Martin, Jone Ibarruri, Bruno Iñarra, and Monica Gutierrez. 2025. "Environmental Sustainability Assessment of a Filtration–Diafiltration Strategy for Recovering Savory Compounds from Mussel Cooking Water" Membranes 15, no. 8: 242. https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes15080242

APA Style

Cadena, E., Dewulf, J., San Martin, D., Ibarruri, J., Iñarra, B., & Gutierrez, M. (2025). Environmental Sustainability Assessment of a Filtration–Diafiltration Strategy for Recovering Savory Compounds from Mussel Cooking Water. Membranes, 15(8), 242. https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes15080242

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Environmental Sustainability Assessment of a Filtration–Diafiltration Strategy for Recovering Savory Compounds from Mussel Cooking Water

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