Swollen-state preparation of chitosan lactate from moulted shrimp shells and its application for harvesting marine microalgae Nannochloropsis sp.

Chitosan lactate (CSS) has been widely used for academic and industrial applications due to its biocompatibility, biodegradability, and high biological activity. Unlike chitosan, which is generally soluble only in acid solution, CSS can be directly used by dissolving in water. In this study, CSS was prepared from moulted shrimp chitosan at room temperature by a solid-state method. Chitosan was first swollen in a mixture of ethanol and water, making it more susceptible to reacting with lactic acid in the next step. As a result, the prepared CSS had a high solubility (over 99 %) and zeta potential (+ 99.3 mV) and was comparable to the commercial product. The preparation method of CSS is facile and efficient for a large-scale process. In addition, the prepared product exhibited a potential flocculant for harvesting Nannochloropsis sp., a marine microalga widely used as a popular food for larvae. In the best condition, the CSS solution (250 ppm) at pH 10 showed the highest recovery capacity (∼ 90 % after 120 min) for harvesting Nannochloropsis sp. Besides, the harvested microalgal biomass showed excellent regeneration after 6 culture days. This paper's findings suggest a circular economy in aquaculture by producing value-added products from solid wastes, which can minimize the environmental impact and move towards sustainable zero-waste.

Highly Porous Hydroxyapatite/Graphene Oxide/Chitosan Beads as an Efficient Adsorbent for Dyes and Heavy Metal Ions Removal.

Dye and heavy metal contaminants are mainly aquatic pollutants. Although many materials and methods have been developed to remove these pollutants from water, effective and cheap materials and methods are still challenging. In this study, highly porous hydroxyapatite/graphene oxide/chitosan beads (HGC) were prepared by a facile one-step method and investigated as efficient adsorbents. The prepared beads showed a high porosity and low bulk density. SEM images indicated that the hydroxyapatite (HA) nanoparticles and graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets were well dispersed on the CTS matrix. FT-IR spectra confirmed good incorporation of the three components. The adsorption behavior of the obtained beads to methylene blue (MB) and copper ions was investigated, including the effect of the contact time, pH medium, dye/metal ion initial concentration, and recycle ability. The HGC beads showed rapid adsorption, high capacity, and easy separation and reused due to the porous characteristics of GO sheets and HA nanoparticles as well as the rich negative charges of the chitosan (CTS) matrix. The maximum sorption capacities of the HGC beads were 99.00 and 256.41 mg g-1 for MB and copper ions removal, respectively.

Evaluation of bioactive release kinetics from crosslinked chitosan films with Aloe vera.

Thermocompression was employed to prepare citric acid-crosslinked chitosan films with Aloe vera (AV) as bioactive compound. Films were easy to handle and mechanical properties did not change with the addition of AV up to 10 wt%, although both TS and EAB decreased for the films with 15 wt% AV, indicating that high AV contents would hinder intermolecular interactions among the formulation components. Maillard reaction occurred between chitosan and citric acid at the processing temperature used (115 °C), while physical interactions took place with AV, as shown by FTIR analysis. All films were insoluble but displayed hydration and limited swelling due to both physical and chemical interactions promoted by AV and citric acid, respectively. A slow AV release, governed by a Fickian diffusion controlled mechanism, and an increase of surface hydrophilicity, which favors cell adhesion, were observed.

Improved method for production of chitin and chitosan from shrimp shells.

In this study, pretreatment procedures have been investigated preceding the standard production of chitin and chitosan. These steps can be used in industrial processes to preserve raw shrimp shells as long as the amount of material is not enough for one production batch. After these treatments, shrimp shells are clean and are facile for further demineralization, deproteinization and deacetylation processes. The prepared chitin and chitosan show a high purity with very low ash (less than 0.3%) and protein residues (less than 0.5%), along with their high molecular weight and high crystallinity. This modified approach has potential for application in large-scale production due to its ease of operation and reduction of environmental concerns.

Preparation of water soluble hydrochloric chitosan from low molecular weight chitosan in the solid state.

In this study, low molecular weight chitosan salt (LMWC-HCl) highly soluble in water was prepared from low molecular weight chitosan (LMWC) in the solid state exposed to hydrogen chloride gas as a reagent. The effects of chitosan particle size, exposure conditions, reaction temperature and reaction time were investigated on the solubility and the molecular weight of obtained products. The formation of the chloride salt was observed after 3 h in a range of temperatures from 4 to 50 °C. The solubility of prepared LMWC-HCl was over 98% for all samples, much higher than that of the original LMWC. The average molecular weight of the LMWC-HCl was about 20-90 kDa with a quite narrow distribution and lower compared to the LMWC. LMWC-HCl and LMWC showed the same high antibacterial activity against Bacillus cereus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus. This facile and efficient process for solubilization of LMWC has potential for industrial application of chitosan.

Recovery of protein hydrolysate and chitosan from black tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) heads: approaching a zero waste process.

Shrimp heads are considered as a potential source for the recovery of many valuable components such as chitin, protein and carotenoids. In the present study, both protein hydrolysate and chitin/chitosan were recovered using combination of physical, biological and chemical treatments. Shrimp heads were separated from liquid phase by a facile and efficient physical pretreatment. The liquid fraction was then hydrolyzed using formic acid and vacuum concentrated to obtain an astaxanthin-rich protein hydrolysate. The solid fraction was used to produce chitin by deproteination and demineralization. The hydrolysate consisted of a high astaxanthin (192 ppm) and protein (26.3 wt%) content. Chitosan prepared from chitin showed a high degree of deacetylation (85.4%) with low protein (0.25 wt%) and mineral (0.22 wt%) contents. The relative crystalline structure of the chitin and chitosan were 54.7 and 10.4%, respectively. The deacetylation of chitin was confirmed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. The present procedure approached to produce maximum valuable components including astaxanthin-rich protein hydrolysate and chitin/chitosan from shrimp head waste.

Preparation and characterization of high purity ß-chitin from squid pens (Loligo chenisis).

Squid pens were extracted by a NaOH solution at 80°C for 10h to remove protein and minerals. The as-prepared ß-chitin had a high molecular weight (8.5±0.1×103kDa), a low protein content (0.63±0.02wt.%), and a negligible amount of minerals. This method avoids the conventional method for the removal of minerals from shrimp and crab shells by HCl. The purity of resulting products was measured by NMR and FTIR. Moreover, the morphology and crystallinity of ß-chitin was characterized by SEM and XRD. The ß-chitin with long chains and high purity is suitable for producing high quantity ß-chitosan for various potential applications.