Estudio Fisicoquímico de Quitina y Quitosana obtenidas a partir del exoesqueleto de camarón café (Farfantepenaeus californiensis)

This work describes the obtention of chitin and chitosan from the brown shrimp exoskeleton (Farfentepenaeus californiensis), which is collected from the Gulf of California. The chitin isolation process was carried out by a consecutive treatment that includes demineralization and deproteinization. On the other hand, the preparation of chitosan was conducted through alkaline hydrolysis, and the product was purified by using a membrane filters series to homogenize the size of the macromolecular chains. According to the methodology, the yield of chitin and chitosan was around 34 % and 20 % (dry weight), respectively. The materials were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. Also, the chitosan sample was analyzed by proximal test, viscometric-average molecular weight, and deacetylation degree. The products exhibited chemical structure and physicochemical properties comparable to biopolymers isolated from similar sources reported in the literature. Chitosan was found to have a degree of acetylation of 15.87 % (by 1H-NMR analysis) and Mv=170 kDa. The results suggest that the chitinous waste from the Sea of Cortes coast can be considered a promising source for the preparation of chitosan and used for several applications in the region.