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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Biotechnology and Bioproducts
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1592331
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvancements in Marine-Derived Proteins: Enhancing Nutritional and Functional PropertiesView all 3 articles
Source-dependent variations in chitin: A comparative study on Antarctic krill, white shrimp and crayfish
Provisionally accepted- 1Zhejiang Pharmaceutical University, ningbo, China
- 2School of Food and Pharmacy, Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan, China
- 3Zhoushan Yueyang Food Co., Ltd., Zhoushan, China
- 4Zhejiang Xinjiahe Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Wenzhou, China
- 5Aquatic Products Processing Factory of China National Zhoushan Marine Fisheries Company, Zhoushan, China
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Chitin, the second most abundant biopolymer in nature after cellulose, has a diverse array of applications in the pharmaceutical, medical, agricultural, textile, cosmetic, wastewater treatment, and food industries. This versatility is attributed to its essential functional properties, including biodegradability, biocompatibility, and non-toxicity. The primary source of commercial chitin is the shells of crustaceans. However, the quantity and quality of chitin extracted from various crustacean shells have not yet been systematically reported or compared. In this study, we compared the composition of three types of crustacean shells: Antarctic krill (AK), White shrimp (WS), and Crayfish (CF). We employed a consistent sequence of deproteinization, decalcification, and bleaching to extract chitin from these shells. The extracted chitin was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Our findings indicated that the chitin content in Antarctic krill reached 24.06%, significantly exceeding that of the other two crustaceans. Notably, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) characterization confirmed that chitin samples from different biological sources exhibit significant structural heterogeneity. This study, through multidimensional morphological analysis, provides critical experimental evidence for both the targeted synthesis of chitin-based functional materials and the high-value-added conversion of crustacean-derived by-products.
Keywords: Chitin, Antarctic krill, white shrimp, crayfish, Structure
Received: 12 Mar 2025; Accepted: 11 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Chen, Chen, Zhao, Yang, Xia, Zeng, He and Lan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Hao Lan, Zhejiang Pharmaceutical University, ningbo, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.