Sustainable co-solvent induced one step extraction of low molecular weight chitin with high purity from raw lobster shell.

The co-solvent prepared from glycerol and hydrochloric acid (HCl) was used for producing low molecular weight chitin from lobster shell. Different reaction temperature, time and acid concentration were studied. The results suggested that the effect of reaction temperature and acid concentration on molecular weight of chitin is most remarkable. The physicochemical properties of chitins were intact during co-solvent treatment. At least 5% HCl was necessary for demineralization and deproteinization. Low molecular weight chitin could be obtained by increasing reaction temperature, acid concentration and prolonging time. The optimized condition for production low molecular weight chitin was at 120 °C for 2 h with acid concentration of 7% (55 kDa) or at 150 °C for 2 h with acid concentration of 5% (57 kDa). This method provides a fast strategy to obtain low molecular weight chitin with high purity from lobster shell.