Student creates lobster pasta

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Campus photo by Mark Lipczynski.

Barbara Gillman and Michael Murphy display crab pasta developed by Gillman. Murphy will spearhead a project to research and develop making lobster pasta using 'Underutilized Lobster ... Mince.'

The Lobster Institute at the University of Maine has secured a $10,000 grant for a project titled “Formulating Pasta from Underutilized Lobster and Crab Mince.” The grant is from the Maine Technology Institute’s Seed Grant Program and the grant will be matched by the UMaine Department of Industrial Cooperation.

The project began in Bob Bayer’s kitchen according to graduate student Barbara Gilman, when Bayer decided to experiment mixing crab meat and pasta. Bayer is the executive director of the Lobster Institute at UMaine.

Gilman is working to develop a gourmet pasta using crab meat that is not economically feasible to process. The underutilized meat is known as mince.

“The pastas will bring a value-added component to current seafood processing operations,” Bayer said. “Lobster and crab legs and bodies are presently considered by-products of processing, and companies must pay to have them hauled away as waste. The de-boning process will allow for a more complete utilization of natural and commercial resources.”

The meat also adds nutritional value to the pasta. According to Gilman, crab and lobster meats contain high quality proteins in the form of two amino acids, which provide a more complete protein to the consumer.

The project is currently in its second stage. This phase will refine the procedure and the product. It will lead to a commercial prototype used for market testing. The first phase focused on testing mechanical separation procedures, the chemical and microbiological evaluation of mince and pasta ingredients ratios and variables.

According to Bayer, the project has the potential to affect all facets of the seafood business from harvesting to processing. According to Bayer, the new process and product will fit into the existing infrastructure of processing plants. It will also take advantage of processing by-products and create new jobs in the production and marketing of a product that is a natural fit with the economic base of Maine’s fishing communities.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 9th, 2001, 12:00 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.