Chitin & Chitosan From Prawn Shell Waste [EIRI-0853]

Chitin is a white, hard, inelastic, nitrogenous, polysaccharide  found in the outer skeleton of  insects, crabs, shrimps and lobsters and in the  internal structures of invertebrates.  It is the second most abundant organic compound next to cellulose. It is a macro molecular linear polymer of_ (1-4)  N  acetyl D glucosamine and is insoluble in water and many organic  solvents. Chitin itself has only a few applications;  it acts  more  as  a  precursor  of  Chitosan,  its  most   familiar derivative. Chitosan  is deacetylated chitin, and is polymer of _(1-4)  acetyl -D glucosamine. It has multifarious uses in the cosmetic, pharmaceutical and  medical industries.  It is even considered as a wonder  drug  of the twenty-first century due to its versatile utility.  Chitin  is a chemical compound belong to glucosamine polysaccharide group categories. It contains  about 7% nitrogen, and is structurally similar to cellulose. It is the principal constituent of the shells of prawn fish, shrimps, crabs, lobsters, beetles and other sea fishes. It is also found in some fungi, algal, and yeasts.  Wayback  in 1811  it was discovered by a french botanist  that  the   fibrous material in the shell of prawn is chitin which is a polymer of N-Acetyl  glucosamine. But it was only in 1974 that the CIFT came out with a simple technology for extraction of  chitin from prawn shell waste and its conversion to chitosan.