2022 iJURECON

Astaxanthin is a highly bioavailable antioxidant carotenoid. It can be extracted from marine life such as shrimp, crab, and red algae. Most of astaxanthin products are extracted from red algae which use costly production. Searching for lower cost sources of astaxanthin would be an interesting alternative way. Therefore, this research aims to extract astaxanthin from crab shells to study biological activities related to biomedical sciences. Astaxanthin was extracted from crab shells (shell and claw) in ethanol. The astaxanthin concentration was determined by colorimetric method. Then, the extract containing astaxanthin was subjected to determine antioxidant activity by ABTS assay, Caco-2 cell survival by MTT assay, and oil encapsulation using simple emulsion method. The results of this study found that the crude extract from molted crab shells had higher astaxanthin content and antioxidant activity than the crab claw extract by showing the astaxanthin content of 0.239±0.006 mg/g DW and antioxidant activity of 18, 038.824±1757.679 μM TEAC/g extract. The crab shell extract at the concentration of 250, 500, and 1000 μg/ml inhibited the cancer cells by 20, 35, and 60 %, respectively. When the crab shell extract was applied in oil emulsion, it was found that coconut oil was the most suitable oil for encapsulation of the extract containing astaxanthin. Therefore, molted crab shell could be an interesting alternative source of raw materials for astaxanthin extraction to reduce production costs by utilizing waste from the molted crab industry and developing as nutritional supplements in the future.