Abstract
Mollusca species shell such as oyster shell (OS) and snail shell (SS), are discarded after taking the meat, and the discarded shell causes the environmental problems. Therefore, recycling shell waste could potentially eliminate the environmental problems. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of OS and SS as natural calcium resources. The minerals, calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus and sodium were analyzed in OS and SS extracts. Among them, the calcium content was the highest: 36.87 (%) and 33.42 (%) in the OS and SS extracts, respectively. Further, the content of ionized bioavailable form of calcium in OS and SS was higher than that of CaCO3 under simulated gastrointestinal digestion conditions. Additionally, OS and SS were added to kimchi, and their inhibitory effect on kimchi acidification was evaluated by assessing pH, titratable acidity and microbial analysis. As the results indicated that the addition of OS and SS had little effect on inhibiting the growth of lactic acid bacteria. However, it was confirmed that calcium neutralizes the organic acids produced during fermentation. Overall, the results of this study provide preliminary information on the re-use of OS and SS extracts as ionized natural calcium supplements and fermentation retardants.