Upcycling of biomaterials from seafood waste and their applications

Abstract

The objective of this thesis is to investigate the mechanism of extraction of high value chitin and chitosan from side-streams of food processing industry using biological fermentation. We would then investigate the sustainability of fermentation-based extraction by exploring cost effective and sustainable carbon sources including plant-based biomass derived sugars. The biological fermentation process developed from this project would help to reduce food waste, achieve zero waste food processing while generating value added materials for food applications. Prawn shells from the seafood industry as well as Black Soldier Fly exoskeleton from the insect farm will be used as the natural source of chitin and chitosan for experiments. Carbon sources from plants will include fruit peels such as red and white grape pomace, banana peel, sugarcane molasses, mango peel, pineapple peel and core, apple pomace as well as potato and sweet potato peel. Analytical methods to ascertain the efficacy of the biological extraction will involve the use of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Elemental Analysis (EA) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD).