Chitin extraction from shrimp wastes by single step fermentation withLactobacillus acidophilusFTDC3871 using response surface methodology

This study aimed to produce chitin and chitosan from shrimp wastes using lactic acid bacteria (LAB). From four strains of LAB and their mixture,Lactobacillus acidophilusFTDC3871 was selected due to higher proliferation and lactic acid production. The fermentation parameters influencing on chitin and chitosan yields such as glucose concentration (w/w), inoculum size (v/w), fermentation time (h), and water content (mL) were optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) with central composite design (CCD). The optimum levels for glucose concentration, inoculum size and water content were 15% (w/w), 5% (v/w), and 100 ml after 72 hr of incubation at 37 degrees C. These conditions led to 90.8% of demineralization and 76% of deproteinization which resulted in 57.7% of chitin yield. The highest concentrations of carotenoid extracted and lactic acid accumulated from hydrolysate were 183.9 mu g/g and 21.3 g/L, respectively. Results showed potential application ofL. acidophilusFTDC3871 in chitin extraction from shrimp waste. Practical applications In this study, fermenting of shrimp wastes with lactic acid bacteria (LAB) was explored to solve the problems in conventional purification processes. This method seems promising, since protein, chitin, and carotenoid could be obtained simultaneously and eco-friendly. Since the efficiency of fermentation process depends on factors such as fermenting strains, inoculum size, carbon source concentration, initial pH and pH evolution during fermentation, and fermentation duration, therefore, a suitable LAB strain was selected to improve the fermentation process by optimizing above factors which influence on chitin and chitosan yields using a statistical approach, response surface methodology (RSM).