Extraction and Characterisation of Chitin and Chitosan from Mussel Shell

In view of the increasing littering of the river banks by shells of crustaceans, a study was carried out to investigate the extraction and characterization of chitin and chitosan from mussel shell. Chitin and chitosan was extracted and characterized from mussel shell found in banks of the Gubi Dam in Bauchi, Nigeria using the conventional methods of pretreatment, demineralization, deprotienization and deacetylation. The results obtained revealed that carbon nitrogen ratio of the chitosan extracted was 5.9 with a degree of deacetylation of 60.69% and 60.66% calculated from the elemental analysis and the FTIR spectra of chitosan respectively. The FTIR spectra for chitosan gave a characteristic –NH2 band of 3447 cm-1 and a carbonyl group band of 1477 cm-1. The mussel shell was discovered to contain a mineral content of 51.62% and a chitin composition was found to be 21.32%. KEYWORDS: Characterisation, Chitin, Chitosan, Extraction, Mussel