Extraction, Synthesis, and Characterization of Chitosan from Fish Scales for Bioplastic Film Production

Plastics are widely involved in the field of packaging, construction and other form on daily basis. This is because plastics are versatile, durable and lightweight materials. Plastics are a non-biodegradable waste and it creates a drastic pollution and not able to control overall pollution in the world. Fish market which have been highly polluted by fish wastes like shells contributes huge pollution to the earth. The development of bioplastic from the fish scales has been minimized pollution from the environment by the extraction of chitosan from the fish shell. Recent studies show that the usage of bioplastics have greater impact in packaging industry. The scales of the fish scraped free of loose tissue, washed, dried in sunlight for 1 weeks and then subjected to chitosan extraction. The chitosan extracted from fish scale involves the 3 steps such as Deproteinization, Demineralization, Deacetylation and synthesis of chitosan-based bioplastic film is obtained. Degradability test was done to check whether obtained bioplastics will degrade when treated with soil microorganisms. The film is analyzed in FTIR Spectroscopy to identify the interaction of ingredients in the biofilm. The cost of manufacturing the film is economical and easy to produce. Large amount of fish scales is improperly disposed at market or at home after cleaning fish, thus the fish waste is recycling and use.