Recovery and Characterization of Astaxanthin Complex from Prawn Waste Extract and Its Separation Using Antisolvent Precipitation Technique

Most of the prawns are processed as frozen or cooked prawn meat. The remaining waste (heads, tails and shells) is used as a feed supplement or is directly discarded onto the land by food industries, seafood markets and capture fisheries. Disposal onto the land allows prawn waste to decompose easily in the open air and causes high environmental pollution. At the same time, many valuable compounds present in the waste are lost. It has been accepted that those from marine/brackish waters are considered 'shrimps' while their counterparts from fresh waters are considered 'prawns'. There is a need to generate value-added products from these waste materials from an environmental and economical point of view. The recovery of value-added products from waste material is beneficial in two ways: firstly, to solve the waste disposal problem itself and secondly, to generate additional income. This research particularly focuses on the management of prawn waste and this small-scale research was carried out using the hand-peeled waste of school prawns. The major aim of this research is the recovery and characterization of one of the major valuable components of prawn waste called the 'astaxanthin complex' and its separation from the organic solvent using the antisolvent precipitation technique, which is an innovative approach.