Black Lip pearl and Mab´e Pearls are emerging commercial aquaculture species in Fiji. Both species are prominently found in Fijian waters. Pinctada margaritifera (black lip pearl oyster) locally known as Civa, which has been cultivated into one of the major commercial species for the pearl industry. The pearl and the shell of the pearl oysters are given most of the importance in this industry, while not much thought is given to the tissue or the oyster meat itself. The by-product of the pearl industry which is majorly the oyster tissue, only 20% of which is edible and the rest (visceral mass) is discarded as waste. The current rise in the fertilizer prices provides opportunity to develop high nutrient organic fertilizer from pearl oysters that can be utilized by the local communities. This resource of the pearl is not optimally utilized in several parts of the world. While Pteria penguin (Mab´e Pearls) locally known as “Melamela” is a community-based project where women and children are involved in the pearl culture. This study aims to investigate the bioconversion of the waste byproducts of the black lip pearl oyster towards the development of an organic fertilizer.
Two different species of cultured pearl oysters Pteria penguin and Pinctada margaritifera were collected from different oyster culturing communities in Fiji. Mineral analysis was done to understand the biochemical composition of the oyster tissue. Six samples of each oyster species were taken and homogenized respectively. From which another three samples were taken for the different analysis. The mineral contents of the pearl oyster tissue are represented in Table 1. The results show that there is a high level of Potassium (K) in both the species of oysters followed by Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P). Minor elements include Zinc (Zn), Manganese (Mn), Iron (Fe), Magnesium (Mg) and Calcium (Ca). N, P and Ca content in P. margaritifera were significantly lower (P < 0.05) than that of P. penguin. This results indicate that in natural occurring oysters have higher mineral content and an ideal choice for of a raw ingredient for liquid fertilizer. This study is done for the first time and has been conducted successfully. This study creates an opportunity for further research in waste bioconversion into usable products such as an organic fertilizer development and further research.