Chitin Fertilizer Production

Chitin is the second largest natural polymer polysaccharide after cellulose. Chitin comes from fungi and algae of arthropods and lower plants. The former is abundant in the ocean. Shrimp and crab have the largest yield and are easy to enrich. The content of chitin is also high, ranging from 14% to 27% by dry weight. In crustaceans or more specifically shellfish, chitin is found to be part of a complex network of proteins on which calcium carbonate is deposited to form a hard shell. The separation of chitin from shellfish requires the removal of two major components of the shell, namely protein removal by deproteinization and inorganic calcium carbonate removal by demineralization. At present, the main raw material for industrial production of chitin comes from these. Chitin and its derivatives induce or enhance the natural defense mechanisms of plants. They are considered plant growth regulators, growth stimulators, and inducers of secondary metabolites. They have beneficial effects as fertilizers, soil conditioners, plant disease control agents, anti-transpiration agents, ripening agents, and seed and fruit coatings.

Fig. 1 Chitin and chitosan on the nanoscale. (Jin T, et al., 2021)

Our Services

CD BioSciences captures the benefits of marine fish and shellfish in a variety of natural and nutrient-rich fertilizers. Many of our ingredients are novel, while others compete as ​​commodities. For all of our products, we focus our development and production on incorporating attributes that our customers can use to enhance the quality and value of fertilizers.

• Bacteria screening and optimization of fermentation conditions
• Chitin extraction
• Chitin preparation
• Production of chitin fertilizers
• Developing and optimizing the production process
• Structural characterization of chitin
• Antibacterial activity test of chitin
• Soil tests
• Analysis of oligochitosan fertilizer composition

Our Methods of Chitin Extraction

• Enzymatic deproteinization
  We use proteases, such as alkaline protease, pepsin, papain, trypsin, etc., to separate proteins from crustacean shells, which can be used for the extraction of chitin. This method has mild conditions, environmental protection, and high product purity advantages.
• Preparation of chitin by microbial fermentation
  We use the microbial fermentation process to use shrimp and crab shell waste as raw materials, and use the organic acids produced by microorganisms during the growth process to dissolve the minerals in the raw materials such as shrimp and crab. Microbial species for crustacean waste fermentation includes Lactobacillus, Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Pediococcus, Serratia, Aspergillus niger.

Our Advantage

• Custom route design
• Outstanding process development, optimization, and scale-up
• Extraction and purification of chitin using different methods
• Efficient multi-step synthesis

CD BioSciences is a professional service provider for the marine biology industry. Our chitin fertilizer production services can ensure that the most suitable methods and techniques are selected for your project. We provide our customers with the most precise ingredient data and highly informed process expertise. Our team of biomass experts plays a key role in the formulation, optimization and commercial evaluation of biomass value-added processes in industry and academia. If necessary, please feel free to contact us.

Reference

• Jin T, Liu T, Lam E, et al. Chitin and chitosan on the nanoscale[J]. Nanoscale Horizons, 2021, 6(7): 505-542.

Please kindly note that our services can only be used to support research purposes (Not for clinical use).