Three students from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile complete three-month collaboration with AquaChile to explore pathways for valorizing salmon blood
AquaChile and three students from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile spent three months through the Sin Límites open innovation program assessing the feasibility of applying salmon blood in agronomy, animal nutrition and biotechnology, and identified valuable components such as iron.
AquaChile, in collaboration with three students from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, has completed a three-month industrial challenge project exploring alternatives for valorizing salmon blood. The project is part of the Sin Límites open innovation initiative, carried out jointly by AquaChile and the Centro de Innovación UC (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Innovation Center), with the goal of identifying possible applications for this by-product in other production sectors.
The three participating students came from civil biotechnology engineering, biochemistry and doctoral chemistry programs, assessing the technical, operational and commercial feasibility of utilizing salmon blood from different disciplinary perspectives. The project work points toward the circular economy and promotes more complete use of resources.
As part of the project experience, the three students visited AquaChile's plant in Chonchi, walking through the entire production process together with the innovation, production and plant management teams to gain on-site understanding of how the industry operates, the complexities of by-product utilization, and to compare preliminary proposals against on-site operations.
One of the participating students, Rafaela Órdenes, said that working directly with a company to address real industry challenges was a very enriching and positive experience for her growth as a future professional.
One of the project's advances was the identification of valuable components such as iron, which could open up space for applications in fields such as agronomy, animal nutrition and biotechnology.
Sergio Vera, head of innovation and digital transformation at AquaChile, said that at AquaChile innovation is understood as collaborative work, and that projects like Sin Límites connect the industry's specific challenges with the talent and creativity of outstanding students, offering opportunities to advance sustainability, the circular economy and value creation for Chilean aquaculture.
This is the second time AquaChile has participated in the program. The project included preparing a preliminary proposal with an initial assessment of capture alternatives, technical and commercial feasibility, and possible application markets. Proposals that show potential for the company can continue to be analyzed in subsequent development or implementation stages.
Through this collaboration, AquaChile aims to expose future professionals to the real challenges of the salmon farming industry, promote knowledge exchange between academia and industry, and advance new solutions in innovation and sustainability.