Development of chitin nanofibers extracted from shrimp shield for shelf-life extension of food

Effects of deacetylation treatment times on properties including crystallinity, thermal properties, and morphology of chitin nanofibers were investigated. Chitin nanofibers were successfully disintegrated from shrimp exoskeletons with aids of NaOH. With the introduction of the deacetylation treatment process, acetyl groups on chitin structures were converted to amine groups, which could be protonated to generate repulsive forces. This resulted in the defibrillation of chitin nanofibers using mechanical defibrillation. The greater defibrillation of chitin nanofibers was obtained with increasing a deacetylation treatment time. Moreover, the longer deacetylation reaction could affect thermal properties of the chitin nanofibers with less degradation in crystallinity. After that, these prepared nanofibers were direct coated on cucumbers, and found that chitin nanofibers successfully provided the longer shelf life of cucumbers in comparison with uncoated cucumbers. Therefore, the use of chitin nanofibers to extend shelf life of food would be an alternative way for food packaging applications.