Extraction of collagen from food waste and the preparationof chitosan, polyhdroxyalkanoate composites

Collagen is a large structural protein made from animal. Due to its bioavailability and biodegradability, collagen has become a biopolymer with a wide range of applications in different biomedical and pharmaceutical fields, including various biomedical and pharmaceutical industries. Chitin is the second most common natural polysaccharide found after cellulose in the world and is found in invertebrates, shellfish. Chitosan, an important biopolymer, is produced by the alkaline deacetylation of chitin and because of its antimicrobial activity widely used in biomedical applications. Polyhydroxyalkanoates are biological polyesters produced by microorganisms. Because of their biocompatibility and other important properties, PHAs are shown as one of the most suitable biomaterials to be used in biomedical applications. In this study, collagen and chitin were isolated from shrimp shell waste, which contains high amounts of collagen and chitin, using demineralization and acid extraction methods. The resulting collagen was characterized by SDS-PAGE analysis and was shown to contain predominantly Type I collagen. Chitosan was produced by deacetylation of the extracted chitin and the acetylation percentage was determined. Using collagen, chitin, chitosan, and a PHA, Poly (3-hydroxybutyric acid -co- 3-hydroxivaleric acid (PHBV), composite materials have produced by electrospinning and the obtained materials were characterized by FT-IR and SEM analysis. As a result of the study, high yield of collagen, chitin and chitosan was obtained from shrimp shell waste and the electrospinned mats produced using the materials obtained have been found to have nanofiber properties. It is suggested that especially collagen/chitin/PHBV composite nanomaterials have the potential to be used in various biomedical applications.