Seafood waste: a source for preparation of commercially employable chitin/chitosan materials

Modern seafood processing practices result in amassment of a large volume of waste products, i.e., skin, head, tails, shells, scales, backbones, etc. These waste products may often encompass several high-value products which are still untapped due to the dearth of appropriate management. Moreover, inadequate disposal of waste also has negative implications on both environment and human health. This seafood waste often contains a huge amount of chitin, a polysaccharide that exhibits exceptional inherent characteristics including biocompatibility, biodegradability, antimicrobial, antitumor and antioxidant activities. The present review summarizes the existing methods for recovery of chitin and its derivatives…

• DO
  Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India

  Award: BT/RLF/Re-entry/04/2013
• MN
  Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur