Influence of Protease Activity on the Preparation of Chitin and Comparison of the Properties of Different Chitins
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Abstract:
In this study, the influence of protease activity on the removal of ash during chitin extraction by acetic acid in combination with protease (enzymatic method) and fermentation methods was investigated. The characteristics of the chitins extracted by chemical, enzymatic, and fermentation methods were further compared. The results indicated that protease activity could facilitate the removal of ash. The chitins extracted using the enzymatic and fermentation methods were very similar in all indices but showed obvious difference from the chitin extracted by the chemical method. The protein content, ash content, degree of crystallinity, and solution viscosity of the chemically extracted chitin were 1.24%, 0.23%, 79.8%, and 48 mPa?s, respectively. In contrast, the corresponding data for the chitins obtained using enzymatic and fermentation methods were 5.80% and 5.91%, 1.08% and 1.02%, 85.8% and 86.4%, and 57 and 59 mPa?s, respectively. The parameters for the enzymatic and fermentation methods were obviously higher than those of the chemically extracted chitin. However, the deacetylation degree of the chemically extracted chitin was higher than that of the other two types of chitin. These facts indicate that the enzymatic and fermentation processes cause less degradation, deacetylation, and damage to crystallinity of chitin molecules than the chemical process.
