(292f) Biological Isolation of Chitin From Crustacean Waste

Chitin is the second most abundant natural biopolymer after cellulose. It is a linear polysaccharide composed of α-(1-4)-linked 2-acetamido- 2-deoxy-D-glucose units and has a chemical composition similar to that of cellulose. Crustacean waste material typically contains 20-30 % chitin. Chitin can be extracted from the crustacean waste by chemical or biological methods. Despite its effectiveness of rapid reaction, the chemical method for chitin extraction is not environmentally friendly since recycling the chemicals involved in the process is difficult and expensive.  In contrast, the biological method is very selective especially for the recovery of chitin comparing to chemical method and environmentally safe. Chitosan which is the degradation product of chitin produced by enzymatic or acidic hydrolysis is introduced into biomedicals applications including wound dressings and drug delivery systems. Chitosan is also used for the production of lipid in addition to medicinal applications related to anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, antimicrobial effects, immunity-enhancing as well as antitumor effects. This work will show experimental results on the extraction of chitin by Bacillus subtilis, and Bacillus cereus.