Mining marine shellfish wastes for bioactive molecules: Chitin and chitosan – Part B: Applications

Due to their unique chemical characteristics (including biodegradability to non-toxic products, physiological inertness and hydrophilicity), chitin, chitosan and their derivatives may be expansively utilized in the biotechnological, agricultural, food protection and nutraceutical, medicinal and pharmacological fields and in the areas of bioremediation and gene therapy. Biological actions associated with chitin and shell waste by-products include among others antibacterial, angiotensin-1-converting enzyme-inhibitory and immunomodulatory activities, while the chitinolytic microbes and enzymes associated with chitinolysis also play a role in the de novo generation of further bioactivites. In Part B of this review we relate in more detail some of the bioactivities and applications of chitin and shell waste by-products.