Chitins and its applications in seafood processing

Abstract

Chitins is a relatively recent term used to collectively refer chitin and its derivatives such as chitosan and chitosan oligomers. Chitosan derived from shrimp shell has a significant role in seafood industry owing to its unique properties like nontoxicity, biodegradability, biocompatibility and other bioactive properties. Chitosan is being used as a multifunctional natural ingredient in seafood industry. Edible coating of chitosan is gaining big attraction for using as antioxidant/antimicrobial preservatives for fish, shrimp and cephalopods. Chitosan film is also being used as the carrier for essential oils for bioactive smart packaging in seafood sector. Protein crosslinking ability of chitosan is being explored in surimi seafood for enhancing the gel strength. Another recent application lies in the area of microencapsulation technique, where the chitosan function as an excellent coating material for oxidatively unstable fish oil. The current trend of chitosan research indicate that chitosan is a potential candidate to replace the harmful synthetic additives in fish processing.