Chitinolyticenzymes , Classification and Applications : An Overview

Abstract

Chitinases are a group of enzymes capable of degrading chitin directly into low molecular weight-products. Chitinases have been isolated from different microorganisms, such as fungi and bacteria. Chitin is an insoluble natural polymer, commonly present among crustacean. Fish scales are one of the most common sources of chitin. A Crustacean and fish scales waste are ideal as row material for chitin production. Fish scales set variety of nutrition, health care, substance-in one. About 130 million tons of fish wastes is generated each year in the (Wekipedia, 2013). More than 80.000 (Wekipedia, 2013) metric tons of chitin is obtained per year from the marine waste. Chitin is closely associated with minerals, lipids and pigments. Chitinolytic enzymes have wide range of applications such as, preparation of single cell protein, preparation of pharmaceutically important chito-oligosaccharides and N-acetyl Dglucosamine. They also play an important physiological and ecological role in ecosystems as recyclers of chitin by generating carbon and nitrogen sources. They are recently used as immuno-stimulants in fish aquaculture. In this review, the occurrence and structure of various types of chitin as well as the, sources of chitinases were discussed classification and their mode of action. Besides, the updated information about the biomedical applications of the chitinases were considered