Produção de quitosana a partir de exoesqueleto de camarão (Litopenaeus vannamei Boone) para aplicações biomédicas.

Abstract

Chitin is the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature, the chitosan being its main derivative. Chitosan is a polysaccharide composed of N-acetyl-glucosamine and N-glucosamine units linked by  (1-4) linkages. Their properties of biocompatibility, low toxicity and biodegradability, make a polymer of choice for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. It lies chitin in insects, fungi and the exoskeletons of crustaceans, the latter being the source easier to obtain. Thus, the objective is to produce chitosan from shrimp exoskeletons (Litopenaeus vannamei Boone) aiming for biomedical applications. First, it became necessary the processing of shrimp shells for further chemical treatment. It is, therefore, taken from the bark mineral phase, the proteinaceous phase, pigments, thereby drawing, chitin, and subsequent deacetylation thereof to finally obtain chitosan. They were determined at different times of the process steps in order to obtain different characteristics between batches. Chitosan chemical and physical tests were performed as obtained in order to verify purity as well as the variability in characteristics obtained on processing. Chitosan samples have aspect powder and white coloration. The method was efficient demineralization, observed by an ash content below 0.063%; The deacetylation degree is above 90%, this result confirms adequate solubility of chitosan in dilute solutions of weak acids, and certain low insoluble content; using the test X-ray diffraction (XRD) it was possible to identify the characteristic peaks of chitosan and its distinction with chitin; the molecular weight obtained by viscometry determined that the chitosan obtained in five batches, can be characterized as average molecular weight; and as the morphologic aspect, it observed like the surface of the five lots of chitosan obtained. Thus, samples from each batch satisfactory results for the characterization tests for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications.