Production of high‐quality chitin and chitosan from preconditioned shrimp shells

Abstract

Abstract Chitin and chitosan with improved characteristics were produced from shrimp shell waste preconditioned by limited decay or by treatment with 0.016 mol L −1 benzoic acid. Preconditioned shrimp shells were transparent, had a clean surface and were susceptible to demineralization and deproteinization using 0.68 mol L −1 HCl and 0.62 mol L −1 NaOH, respectively. The ash and protein residues in the final chitosan were about 0.2% and 0.4%, respectively, the viscosity was up to 7000 cps, and the solubility and transparency nearly 100%. In comparison with treatment at ambient temperature (30 °C) without preconditioning, the chemical consumption, the duration of the treatment, ash and protein residues was reduced to 75–25%, whereas viscosity and absence of insolubles improved by a factor of 2–3. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry