The most important biopolysaccharides for biochemical industries
are chitin and chitosan. These chemical entities are nitrogenous polysaccharide
polymers containing 2-acetamido-2-deoxyglucoside units. These products are
useful in engineering, medicine, agriculture and other industrial uses. Over
the past few years, these compounds have garnered significant recognition for
their numerous potential applications in cutting-edge pharmaceutical research.
Glucosamine is a known drug for treating musculoskeletal problems
and has been obtained from a set of amino polysaccharides. Despite their broad
applicability, there is limited information in the Nigerian context regarding
their extraction and utilisation from local sources.
The present study was aimed at isolation of chitin and chitosan
from shrimp and crab wastes by chemical methods involving deproteinization,
demineralisation at 1M concentration of HCl and NaOH depigmentation, filtration
and Deacetylation with 50% NaOH at 100°C, where necessary. These were
simultaneously converted to glucosamine by acid hydrolysis using 37% HCl for 1
hour. The yield of chitin was 17% for shrimp and 28.00% for crab. Deacetylation
of chitin using 50% NaOH at 100oC resulted in 56% chitosan from shrimp and
71.10% from crab. The proximate analysis of chitin isolated gave rise to the
following result: moisture 2.9%, ash 4.54%, lipids 2.1% and protein 3.3% for
shrimp and moisture 4.03, ash 1.97%, lipid 1.73%, and protein 2.90% for Crab.
These compounds were characterised using FTIR. In the infra-red spectrum, the
shrimp chitin indicated an amide (I) band at 1614cm-1, while crab chitin
indicated an amide (1) band at 1629 cm-1 whereas chitosan and glucosamine
showed no amide band but hydroxyl and amino groups between the ranges of
3110-3595 cm-1 while crab showed absorption at 3565-3015cm-1. The results of
these analyses, including the proximate analysis, compared well with literature
values. There is a paucity of information in the literature about this type of
study in Nigeria. This study has created awareness that these biomaterials from
crustacean sources from Nigeria are technologically useful for conversion into
useful products that can be used in Engineering, Medicine, Agriculture and
other industrial products. This work provides a route for controlling pollution
threats caused by fishing and canning sites. This is a case of creating Wealth
from Waste.
Author(s)
Details
Akpuaka
M U
Department of Pure and Industrial Chemistry, Nnamdi Azikiwe
University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.
Esimai
B G
Department of Pure and Industrial Chemistry, Nnamdi Azikiwe
University, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria.
Please
see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/rpbs/v5/5761
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