Paper Title
Utilization of seafood waste for potential biomedical applications

Abstract
Lobster shell waste was used as the source of raw material to produce chitinusing biological treatment, which included the use of co-cultures with a protease-producing bacterium, either Bacillus megaterium NH21or Serratia marcescens db11,and an organic acid-producing bacteriumLactobacillus plantarum. The optimal culture conditions, including co-cultivation strategies and glucose concentrations, were identified to improve the efficiency of deproteinization and demineralization of lobster shells. The lobster shells were also treated chemically for chitin extraction as comparison to the bio-based treatments. Overall, the successive treatment with a combination of S. marcescens db11 and L. plantarum yielded the best co-removal of CaCO3 and proteins from lobster shell biomass, with total deproteinization of 87.19% and total demineralization of 89.59%. Chitin membranes were successfully prepared by dissolution of this microbially-extracted chitin in ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([C2mim][OAc]). The resulting materials were thoroughly characterized, revealing that freeze drying produced chitin membranes that were highly porous. The drying methods and the concentration of chitin used defined many of the membrane properties, such as mechanical strength, porosity, and water absorbency. The results from the proof-of-concept study described here suggest that microbial treatment may be an environmentally friendly alternative to the chemical method of chitin extraction. This study provides a starting point for the design and fabrication of a family of polysaccharide-based sustainable materials with potentially broad applicability. Keywords - Lobster shell, Chitin, Chitin extraction, Ionic liquid, Chitin membrane