Use of dried papaya milk in chitosan manufacture

A new method for the production of chitosan from shrimp waste using dried papaya milk (DPM) has been developed. It involves the treatment of demineralized (with 4% HC1) shrimp waste with DPM followed by deproteinization with 3% NaOH and deacetylation with 50% NaOH. The use of DPM brings about considerable reductions in the amount of HC1 (20%) and NaOH (40%), which are known to cause environmental pollution problems. Typically, the degree of deacetylation (DD) of resulting chitosan was (67%) comparable to DD of conventional methods. Moisture content (9.12%) and ash content (0.09%) of resulting chitosan were significantly low compared to chitosan obtained by 100% chemical methods. Vidyodaya J. of Sci.. (2009) Vol. 14, pp 31-39