The hyaluronic acid (HA) is an important macromolecule in medical and pharmaceutical areas as well as in the cosmetics industry. The umbilical cord and the chicken crest are two of the richest tissues in this polysaccharide. Since Brazil is one of the main chicken exporters in the world, the utilization of crests from slaughtered animals to obtain HA is particularly attractive. The present research aimed to extract hyaluronic acid (HA) from the crest and determine its antioxidant activity in vitro. Dry and delipidated chicken crest underwent proteolytic digestion and subsequent precipitation with cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC). Antioxidant activity was determined by the 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method. The glycosaminoglycans (GAG) concentration in the chicken crest was 14.9µg of hexuronic acid /mg of dry tissue and the extracted HA presented great antioxidant activity in vitro. Thus, HA may be used as a sub-product of poultry processing industries.
chicken crest; glycosaminoglycans; extraction
