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Mining marine shellfish wastes for bioactive molecules: Chitin and chitosan ndash; Part A: extraction methods
Author(s) -
Hayes Maria,
Carney Brian,
Slater John,
Brück Wolfram
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
biotechnology journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.144
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1860-7314
pISSN - 1860-6768
DOI - 10.1002/biot.200700197
Subject(s) - chitin , chitosan , shellfish , extraction (chemistry) , chemistry , fishery , chromatography , biology , aquatic animal , organic chemistry , fish <actinopterygii>
Legal restrictions, high costs and environmental problems regarding the disposal of marine processing wastes have led to amplified interest in biotechnology research concerning the identification and extraction of additional high grade, low‐volume by‐products produced from shellfish waste treatments. Shellfish waste consisting of crustacean exoskeletons is currently the main source of biomass for chitin production. Chitin is a polysaccharide composed of N ‐acetyl‐ D ‐glucosamine units and the multidimensional utilization of chitin derivatives including chitosan, a deacetylated derivative of chitin, is due to a number of characteristics including: their polyelectrolyte and cationic nature, the presence of reactive groups, high adsorption capacities, bacteriostatic and fungistatic influences, making them very versatile biomolecules. Part A of this review aims to consolidate useful information concerning the methods used to extract and characterize chitin, chitosan and glucosamine obtained through industrial, microbial and enzymatic hydrolysis of shellfish waste.