ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an abundance of valuable first-hand information about the biomedical, food, and industrial applications of portunid crab wastes. Crab wastes exoskeleton are one of the main sources for the production of value-added products such as chitin and chitosan. Crab waste contains 25–35% of chitin on a dry weight basis. The shells are typically washed in dilute acid and rinsed in water. The proteins are then removed by washing with concentrated alkaline solution and then rinsed with water. The biomedical applications of chitin, chitosan and their derivatives are largely due to their antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and hypocholesterolemic properties. The extraction of the chitin and chitosan of various body parts of mud crab Scylla tranquebarica shows that the leg shell yield is more than that of carapace shell and claw shell. Shell wastes of portunid crab, Callinectes bellicosus have been employed for simultaneous production of chitin and L(+)-lactic acid by submerged fermentation of Lactobacillus sp.
