Progress in obtaining chitosan from crustacean biowaste using eco-friendly processes: a bibliometric mapping

The traditional methods for recovery of chitin from crustacean biowaste and its subsequent deacetylation for the production of chitosan uses strong acids and bases. Chemical demineralization, deproteination and deacetylation have several drawbacks for the final product and are harmful to the environment. Thus, the conversion of the raw material into chitosan by ecofriendly or sustainable processes has challenged researchers in recent years. The growing range of chitosan applications, which are determined mainly by their molecular weight, degree of deacetylation and type of processes employed, have also driven research. The landscape of literature over the last 22 years is discussed in this paper by using bibliometric analysis and mapping based on bibliographic metadata from the Web of Science database. It was possible to have an overview of the history, trend, forecast of studies and the current collaboration network in order to obtain chitosan with environmentally friendly and sustainable methods.