.2.4. Deacetylation
The conversion of chitin to chitosan involved deacetylation using the process suggested by Kurita et al. (2003). The parameters employed (i.e. reaction duration, temperature and concentration of alkaline reagent) were as follows: a suspension of 1 g of chitin in 50 mL of aqueous sodium hydroxide, as deacetylation reagent (50% by weight) was mixed at fixed temperature (90-100 C) under constant stirring. After 3-5 h, the solid was filtered, washed with water and 80% (v/v) alcohol until the filtrate was neutral. Then it was oven-dried at 80 C overnight.