In Indonesia, researchers at Bogor Agricultural University’s Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science are finding good use for shrimp shells by using the chitosan in the shells to create a biomaterial that helps heal burns. The new burn treatment derived from shrimp waste helps cell proliferation, enhances collagenization, and accelerates cell regeneration on the injured skin.
“I hope through this research to reduce the waste of fishery processing and turn it into a value-added innovation product, which is chitosan from shrimp shells,” Antonius Sugiyanto, student of Aquatic Product Technology Department, told VIVA. “The shrimp processing industry produces a lot of unutilized shrimp shell waste, which can be converted into chitosan that can be used as a wound healing agent.”