Chitin and chitosan: Study of the possibilities of their production by valorization of the waste of crustaceans and cephalopods rejected in Essaouira

In this paper, we study the possibility of valorization of the waste of crustaceans and cephalopods, rejected by the seafood restaurants in Essaouira, by the production of chitin and chitosan. It is part of the continuity of previous works which have been interested in the exploration of the chitinous sources of the Moroccan coast and in the preparation of chitins and chitosan with controlled physico-chemical characteristics. We realized an investigation about fishing activity in Essaouira and the quantities of waste from marine sources that could be valorized, Sources chosen further to this investigation were the object of reactions of extraction and of N-deacetylation to prepare the chitin and the chitosan. The followed processes are chosen to obtain products of good quality; in particular chitosan of varied molar weight but highly deacetylated (low degree of acetylation DA) were targetted. An estimation of the annual quantities of chitin and chitosan can be produced only from the waste of restaurants in this small coastal city will be presented.