부산대학교 도서관

Exploitation of aquatic natural resources contributes to important economic and social services to the world’s population. According to the latest FAO statistics, aquaculture production reached 167.2 million tons in 2014, representing values of nearly USD285 billion. Particularly, crustacean production represents 9% of the total, representing almost 7 Mt, which generates a great amount of waste, mainly from the exoskeletons. The increasing tendency toward a responsible and sustainable production that combines economic development and the conservation of natural resources has generated changes regarding production management. Within this framework, the biotechnological use of waste not only provides an added value to materials that have been traditionally discarded but also can reduce the environmental contamination resulting from their chemical processing. Thus, there is an opportunity for the preparation of substances with high aggregate value, such as chitin and its derivatives (chitosan, chito-oligosaccharides, and glucosamine), proteins, lipids, and carotenoid pigments. Byproducts resulting from the processing of crustaceans have potential applications in the food, pharmaceutical, textile, biomedical, and agricultural industries as well as in bio- and nanotechnology. In addition, the biomimetic of the structures, functions, and properties of the exoskeletons of crustaceans and the processes involved in their formation constitute the basis for the development of diverse structures, such as laminates or buildings, the creation of new materials that are potentially useful in diverse areas, and the adoption of novel modes of technologies.