Conversion of Chitin to Defined Chitosan Oligomers: Current Status and Future Prospects

Abstract

Chitin is an abundant polysaccharide primarily produced as an industrial waste stream during the processing of crustaceans. Despite the limited applications of chitin, there is interest from the medical, agrochemical, food and cosmetic industries because it can be converted into chitosan and partially acetylated chitosan oligomers (COS). These molecules have various useful properties, including antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities. The chemical production of COS is environmentally hazardous and it is difficult to control the degree of polymerization and acetylation. These issues can be addressed by using specific enzymes, particularly chitinases, chitosanases and chitin deacetylases, which yield better-defined chitosan and COS mixtures. In this review, we summarize recent chemical and enzymatic approaches for the production of chitosan and COS. We also discuss a design-of-experiments approach for process optimization that could help to enhance enzymatic processes in terms of product yield and product characteristics. This may allow the production of novel COS structures with unique functional properties to further expand the applications of these diverse bioactive molecules.

Seafood Waste as Attractive Source of Chitin and Chitosan Production and Their Applications

“…The seafood industry annually generates about 106 tons of waste, most of which is destined for composting or to be converted into low value-added products such as animal feed and fertilizers [ 7 ]. In this context, approximately 2000 tons of chitosan is produced annually, whose main source of extraction is from shrimp and crab shell residues [ 8 ].…”

MINI-REVISÃO FOCADA NAS APLICAÇÕES BIOTECNOLÓGICAS DA QUITOSANA: EMBALAGENS, ALIMENTOS & BEBIDAS

“…A produção química de oligômeros de quitosana parcialmente acetilados é prejudicial ao meio ambiente e é difícil controlar o grau de polimerização e acetilação. Esses problemas podem ser resolvidos com o uso de enzimas específicas (quitinases, quitosanases, quitina desacetilases) que auxiliam na produção de quitosana da melhor forma (KIDIBULE et al, 2018;SCHMITZ et al, 2019). Assim, as propriedades físico-químicas e bioativas da quitosana fazem dessa matéria-prima uma opção viável e promissora para uso em preparações alimentícias, produção de bebidas e fabricação de embalagens (PRIYADARSHI; RHIM, 2020).…”

Anti-inflammatory activity of soluble chito-oligosaccharides (CHOS) on VitD3-induced human THP-1 monocytes

“…CHOS can be generated by degradation of chitosan using different methods including heating in mild acid, microwave treatment, or enzymatic degradation [ 5 ]. The biological activity of CHOS has been shown to be closely associated with oligomer properties, which are defined by the degree of polymerization (DP), molecular weight (MW), the degree of N -acetylation (D A ), or the fraction of acetylation (F A ), and the pattern of N -acetylation (P A ) [ 6 , 7 ]. Enzymatic degradation of chitosan is an environmentally friendly approach to produce CHOS with well-defined properties.…”