Shinsuke Ikufu, a scientist at Tottori University, Japan, has developed a method to turn discarded crab shells into nanofibers, which can be used in food or beauty products. Ikufu said that after seeing thousands of tonnes of crab shells discarded every year, he decided to develop a method to recycle and take advantage of the raw material. Ikufu subsequently designed a machine capable of processing chitin, a carbohydrate that makes up 20 to 30 percent of crab shell.
The use of water and acid helped to extract the chitin from the shells, which was then refined through the machine. The results are fibers of around six nanometres in width. As the process is, in principle, more economical than existing ones producing chitin nanofibers, Ikufu plans to create a company with the support of his university to commercialise the product.
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Crab shells used in food products
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