Demineralized crab and shrimp shell powder: Cost effective medium for bacillus Sp. R2 growth and chitinase production

Crustaceous wastes such as shrimp, crab and lobster, are chitinous solid waste of the shellfish processing industry. to select the best substrates for bacterial growth and enzyme activity, different poor and enriched media were investigated, furthermore, the non-dematerialized and dematerialized shells powders of crab, shrimp, prawn and the mixed powders of crab+ shrimp shells and crab+ prawn shells were tested as substrates for and chitinase production by the chitin degrading bacterium Bacillus sp. R2 in a submerged fermentation (SMF) culture. The results revealed that, the tested poor media failed to enhance enzyme production, whereas the tested enriched media promote growth and protein content efficiently, in contrast the demineralized chitinous wastes were generally good carbon and nitrogen sources for growth and chitinase production. The most favorable substrates were demineralized crab + prawn followed by crab + shrimp. The obtained results would certainly encourage the utilization of shellfish processing (Crab and Shrimp Shell) waste for the industrial production of chitinase via submerged fermentation (SMF).