Extraction of crude chitosans from squid (Illex argentinus) pen by a compressional puffing-pretreatment process and evaluation of their antibacterial activity

Chitosan is produced by thermochemical alkaline deacetylation of chitin, but the process is usually environmentally problematic. In the present study, Illex argentinus squid pen chitin, after de-proteinization and demineralization, was pretreated with a compressional-puffing (CP) process under various puffing pressures. The CP process facilitated the increase of the crystalline index and degree of deacetylation of chitins. The CP-treated chitins...