Experimental evaluation of the process of protein removal from waste shrimp shells using papaya and pineapple juice solution

Abstract

This research aims to improve the quality of chitin obtained from process protein extraction for shrimp shells. Previous studies showed that for the synthesis of chitosan, deproteinization, and demineralization is carried out by alkali and acid treatment, combined with heating, which affects the biosecurity of the material. Therefore, this study aims to remove protein from waste shrimp shells to purify chitin using a simple and safe green chemical approach (using pineapple and papaya juice solutions) and safe method. The raw shrimp shells were treated in steps: deproteinization with pineapple and papaya solutions for 12, 24, 36, and 48 h, varying immersion volumes from 10 mL to 60 mL. The experimental results showed that the protein in the shrimp shell was removed at 7.37% for freshwater shrimp (7.14%), higher than that of saltwater shrimp. The pineapple juice solution removed the protein better than the papaya juice.