Isolation, characterization and standardization of demineralization process for chitin polymer and minerals from the crabs waste of Portunidae segnis

The most abundant polymeric compound in nature after cellulose is chitin. Mostly, it is used as raw material for food additives, agriculture, biomedicine, water treatment, cosmetics and textile industry. Exoskeletons of crustaceans such as lobster, crabs and shrimps, mollusks, insects and the cell walls of certain fungi are the main sources of chitin. The best raw material for the production of chitin is marine exoskeletons. The current objective of this study is to standardize the demineralization process for removal of minerals from the waste of Portunidae segnis (P. segnis) by using chemical treatment. A fix concentration of HCl acid at various reaction conditions are used in the demineralization process for the first step of chitin isolation. The percentage of calcium and phosphorous removed after demineralization process was determined by using sensitive Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES). The P. segnis was purchased from a local market, it was collected from the coastal area of Oman. The samples were dried and ground into coarse powder. The coarse powdered samples were treated with 2 M concentration of hydrochloric acid at different incubation time, temperature and weight/volume ratio. All treated samples were analyzed by using sensitive ICP-OES. The results from the ICP-OES showed that treatment of P. segnis waste samples with 2 M of HCl at room temperature for 70 min with ratio of 1:20 (w/v) is the best process for demineralization of chitin. FT-IR, SEM/EDX and ICP-OES analysis of this sample confirmed successful isolation of minerals from Omani P. segnis. In conclusion, the best standardized demineralization process could be used for the isolation of good quality of chitin. This chitin could be used as the main raw material in food industry, agriculture, biomedicine, cosmetics and textile industry.