Improvement of chitin quality from shrimp wastes by the combination ofheat treatment and decolorization

Abstract

This study aims to reduce reaction time but improve the chitin quality in the isolation of chitin from shrimp shells as well as control properly reaction temperature and decolorization. The raw shrimp shells was treated by three steps: (i) deminerization in 4% HCl solution with raw material/solution ratio of 1/5 (w/v) at 50^oC for 10 hours, (ii) deproteinization in 3% NaOH solution with raw material/solution ratio of 1/5 (w/v) at 70^oC for 12 hours, (iii) decolorization in 0.5% H₂O₂ solution with raw material/solution ratio of 1/15 (w/v) at room temperature for 12 hours. The as-prepared chitin has low acetyl degree of 7.2 % with medium molecular weight of 1076 kDa. The protein (0.73 wt.%) and mineral (0.86 wt.%) contents are acceptable for using as a commercial chitin product.