Bioconversion of Shellfish Chitin Waste: Waste Pretreatment, Enzyme Production, Process Design, and Economic Analysis

Study of pretreatment of shrimp processing waste for a chitin bioconversion scheme to produce yeast single‐cell protein established conditions for size reduction, deproteination, and demineralization. Enzymatic hydrolysis of pretreated chitin waste achieved 80% conversion in 24 hr. Optimum temperature and pH were determined for maximum chitinase production in submerged culture, using pretreated chitin waste as substrate. An integrated process scheme for conversion of shrimp shell chitin waste to yeast single‐cell protein based on these and previous results was designed and analyzed economically, giving a negative after‐tax cash flow of $0.06 per kg of wet waste.