• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.14-24
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• 1992

An attempt was made to prepare chitin from kuruma prawn shell and antarctic krill for industrial use, and new procedure for the preparation of chitin was developed. When antarctic krill powder and kuruma prawn shell powder were treated through the new procedures developed in this study, purified chitin, identified by IR spectrum and nitrogen content, was obtained. Molecular weight in formic acid of purified chitin was $1.56{\times}10^{5}$ for krill and $1.78{\times}10^{5}$ for kuruma prawn respectively. Degree of polymerization of N-acetylglucosamine was 750 for krill chitin and 850 for kuruma prawn chitin. Purified chitin showed a higher degree of acetylation, and was relatively rich in methionine residue.