The Use of Crude Shrimp Shell Powder for Chitinase Production by Serratia marcescens WF

Jesús E. Mejía-Saulés¹, Krzysztof N. Waliszewski²*, Miguel A. Garcia² and Ramon Cruz-Camarillo<sup>1

1</sup>Escuela Nacional de Ciencias Biológicas, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, México DF, México
²Instituto Tecnológico de Veracruz, M.A. de Quevedo 2779, P.O. Box 1380, Veracruz, 91860 México

Article history:
Received April 4, 2005
Accepted October 6, 2005

Key words:
crude shrimp waste, chitinase, Serratia marcescens WF, modeling

Summary:
From 102 Serratia marcescens strains screened, 57 strains showed chitinase activity and Serratia marcescens WF showed the highest chitinolytic activity so this strain was selected for further study on the use of crude shrimp waste for chitinase production. The concentration of crude shrimp shell content at 10–70 g/L, incubation temperature of 28–37 °C, pH=6–9, and time 24–96 h on kinetics of chitinase production by S. marcescens WF were evaluated. The maximal chitinase production related to process variables was obtained with the second order polynomial model: dry shrimp shell powder at 6 %, pH=6.5, temperature of 28 °C during fermentation for up to 72 h.

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