[en] The potential of using the planktonic crustacean Daphnia magna as a commercial source of chitin was studied on the basis of the estimation of the amount of chitin produced annually by this species and the specifications of this kind of chitin. D. magna was found to have a significant chitin content, ranging from 3% to 7% of the body dry weight. During three consecutive years, chitin biomass (B) and daily somatic chitin production (daily P-SOM) were monitored in a 59,000-m(2) aerated waste stabilisation pond located in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg (Western Europe). These variables were found to vary a lot seasonally. Maximum values were observed in summer (B > 40 kg chitin; daily P-SOM > 20 kg chitin day(-1)). Annual somatic chitin production reached on average 1200 kg chitin year(-1). The amount of chitin generated by the moulting of the daphnids (i.e. chitin contained in the exuviae) can also constitute a significant source of chitin, reaching about 1220 kg chitin year(-1). Chitin was isolated from D. magna, following three different processing routes. The specifications of the isolated and purified chitin were similar to those of commercial chitin extracted from crabs and shrimps. The average molecular weight varied from 600,000 to 2,600,000 depending on the processing route, The isolated chitin had a low N content indicating a high degree of acetylation. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Bottrell H.H., Duncan A., Gliwicz Z.M., Grygierek E., Herzig A., Kurazawa H., Larsson P., Weglenska T. (1976) A review of some problems in zooplankton studies. Norw. J. Zool. 24:416-456.
Brine C.J., Austin P.R. (1981) Chitin variability with species and method of preparation. Comp. Biochem. Physiol. 69 B:283-286.
Cauchie H.M., Hoffmann L., Jaspar-Versali M.F., Salvia M., Thomé J.P. (1995) Daphnia magna Straus living in an aerated sewage lagoon as a source of chitin: Ecological aspects. Belg. J. Zool. 125:67-78.
Cauchie H.M., Hoffmann L., Thomé J.P. (1999) Ingestion rates of Daphnia magna Straus (Crustacea: Branchiopoda: Anomopoda) on bacterioplankton and phytoplankton in an aerated waste stabilisation pond. Belg. J. Zool. 129:285-304.
Cauchie H.M., Thys I., Hoffmann L., Thomé J.P. (2000) In situ versu laboratory estimations of length-weight regression and growth rate of Daphnia magna (Branchiopoda, Anomopoda) from an aerated waste stabilisation pond. Hydrobiologia 421:47-59.
De la Noüe J., Proulx D. (1986) Intérêt des biomasses d'algues et d'invertébrés obtenus par recyclage. Entropie 130-131.
Dinges R. Ecology of Daphnia in Stabilization Ponds, Texas State Department of Health, Division of Waste Water Technology and Surveillance, Austin, 155 pp.; 1973.
Dor I., Schechter H., Bromley H.J. (1987) Limnology of a hypertrophic reservoir storing waste water effluent for agriculture at Kibbutz Na'an Israël. Hydrobiologia 150:225-241.
Edeline F. Biotechnologie de l'épuration des eaux résiduaires urbaines, CEBEDOC Liège, Belgium 303 pp.; 1987.
Edwards P., Pullin R.S.V. Wastewater-Fed Aquaculture. Proceedings of the International Seminar on Wastewater Reclamation and Reuse for Aquaculture , Calcutta, India, 6-9 December 1988. Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand; 1990, 1-295.
Espie P.J., Roff J.C. (1995) A biochemical index of duration of the molt cycle for planktonic crustacea based on the chitin-degrading enzyme, chitobiase. Limnol. Oceanogr. 40:1028-1034.
Gervasi E. Biomasse et production de chitine de la communauté planctonique du Golfe de Calvi-Corse, MS Thesis, University de Liège, Belgium, 53 pp.; 1986.
Hathaway C., Stefan H. (1995) Model of Daphnia populations for wastewater stabilization ponds. Water Res. 29:195-208.
Hickey C., Quinn J.M., Davies-Colley R.J. (1989) Effluent characteristics of domestic sewage oxidation ponds and their potential impacts on rivers. N. Z. J. Mar. Freshwater Res. 23:585-600.
Jeuniaux C. (1982) La chitine dans le règne animal. Bull. Soc. Zool. Fr. 107:363-386.
Jeuniaux C., Voss-Foucart C. (1997) A specific enzymatic method for the quantitative estimation of chitin. Chitin Handbook , Muzzarelli, R.A.A., Peter, M.G. (Eds.). European Chitin Society, Grattammare, Italy; 3-7.
Jürgens K. (1994) Impact of Daphnia on planktonic microbial food webs - A review. Man Microb. Food Webs 8:295-324.
Lehninger A.L., Nelson D.L., Cox M.M. Principles of Biochemistry, Worth Publishers, New York; 1993.
McCauley E. (1984) The estimation of the abundance and biomass of zooplankton in samples. A Manual on Methods for the Assessment of Secondary Production in Fresh Waters , Downing, J.A., Rigler, F.H. (Eds.). Blackwell, Oxford; 228-265.
Naméche T. Modélisation du fonctionnement des stations d'épuration par lagunage aéré et lagunage naturel, PhD Thesis, Fondation Universitaire Luxembourgeoise, Arlon, Belgium, 180 pp.; 1998.
Ouazzani N., Bouarab L., Picot B., Lazrek H.B., Oudra B., Bontoux J. (1997) Variations saisonnières de formes de phosphore dans une station de traitement des eaux usées par lagunage, sous climat aride de Marrakech (Maroc). Rev. Sci. Eau 4:527-544.
Pearson H.W., Mara D.D., Arridge H.A. (1995) The influence of pond geometry and configuration on facultative and maturation waste stabilisation pond performance and efficiency. Water Sci. Technol. 31(12):129-140.
Porter K.G., Feig Y.S., Vetter E.F. (1983) Morphology, flow regimes and filtering rates of Daphnia, Ceriodaphnia and Bosmina fed on natural bacteria. Oecologia 58:156-163.
Pütz K., Buchholz F. (1991) Comparative ultrastructure of the cuticle of some pelagic, nektobenthic and benthic malacostracan crustaceans. Mar. Biol. 110:49-58.
Reissig J., Strominger J., Leloir L. (1955) A modified colorimetric method for the estimation of N-acetylamino sugars. J. Biol. Chem. 217:959-966.
Roberts G.A.F. Chitin Chemistry , Macmillan, London; 1992, 350.
Rodier J., Beuffe H., Bournaud M., Broutin J.P., Goeffray C., Kovacsik G., Laporte J., Pattee E., Plissier M., Rodi L., Vial J. L'analyse de l'eau. Eaux naturelles, eaux résiduaires, eau de mer, Dunod, Paris 1365 pp.; 1984.
Sandford P.A. (1989) Chitosan: Commercial uses and potential applications. Chitin and Chitosan. Proc. 4th Int. Conf. on Chitin/Chitosan , Skjak-Braek, G., Anthonsen, T., Sandford, P. (Eds.). Elsevier, Amsterdam; 51-69.
Sevrin-Reyssac J. (1992) Valorisation du lisier de porc par élevage intensif d'algues et de zooplancton. Aqua Rev. 40:33-43.
Sevrin-Reyssac J., Proulx D., Watteau S., Chemillier J. (1994) Eaux usées et lagunage. Plus qu'un exutoire. Aqua Rev. 54:14-32.
Shimahara K., Takiguchi Y. (1988) Preparation of crustacean chitin. Methods in Enzymology. Biomass, Part B: Lignin, Pectin, and Chitin , Wood, W.A., Kellog, S.T. (Eds.), Academic Press, San Diego; 161:417-423.
Steiner B. (1982) Les peuplements planctoniques de l'installation de lagunage naturel de Chaucenne (Doubs). L'épuration par lagunage , CERETE-Montpellier (Ed.). Technologie, fonctionnement, valorisation. Librairies Lavoisier, Paris; 31-41.
Ter Braak C.F.J., Smilauer P. CANOCO Reference Manual and User's Guide to Canoco for Windows: Software for Canonical Community Ordination (Version 4), Microcomputer Power, Ithaca, NY, USA; 1998.
Trousselier M., Legendre P., Baleux B. (1986) Modeling the evolution of bacterial densities in an eutrophic ecosystem (sewage lagoons). Microb. Ecol. 12:355-379.
Water quality criterion for ammonia, U.S. EPA 440/5-84-001; 1985.