Chitinase production from marine wastes by Aspergillus terreus and its application in degradation studies

Chitinase is the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature after cellulose, and it largely exists in wastes from processing of marine food products (crab, shrimp and krill shells as well as fish scales). About 10 ton of chitin is produced annually in the aquatic biosphere alone (Wang and Chio, 1998). The waste generated from the worldwide production and processing of shell-fish and fish scales is a serious problem of growing magnitude. This abundant waste may pose environmental hazard due to the easy deterioration (Mejia-Saules et al., 2006). Chitinases (EC 3.2.1.14) are glycosyl hydrolases which catalyze the degradation of chitin. These enzymes have a wide range of biotechnological applications such as preparation of pharmaceutically important chitooligosaccarides and NISSN: 2319-7706 Volume 3 Number 1 (2014) pp. 76-82 http://www.ijcmas.com