Chitin

Description

Chitin is the most abundant natural amino polysaccharide. It has a similar annual yield as cellulose. Chitin is a kind of highly valuable material in biomedical applications because of its high biocompatibility, biodegradability and non-toxicity as well as its antimicrobial activity and low immunogenicity. It can be easily processed into gels, membrane, nanofibers, beads, nanoparticle, scaffold and sponges, enables its wide applications. In the tissue engineering, it can be used for manufacturing polymer scaffold to satisfy the demands of repairing, replacing, maintaining, or enhancing the function of a particular tissue or organ. In wound dressing, chitin can be used as antimicrobial reagent. In the field of drug delivery, the water-soluble carboxymethyl chitin (CMC) nanoparticle can be used as an effective carrier in drug delivery.

Description

Chitin is responsible for that crunch you hear when cracking a lobster claw at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco at the ACS Fall National Meeting. This carbohydrate forms the naturally-occurring polymers that make up the hard outer shells of insects, spiders, crabs, and shrimp. Chitin extracted from crab and shrimp shells is compatible with human tissue and has been found to be useful to accelerate healing in wounds.

Chemical properties

Chitin is a colorless, crystalline or amorphous powder that is insoluble in water, organic solvents, dilute acids, and alkalis. It dissolves in concentrated mineral acids with simultaneous degradation of the polymer. Although chitosan is insoluble in water, it does dissolve in aqueous organic acids, for example, acetic and formic acids, as well as inorganic acids. Chitin and chitosan preparation can vary due to the source, with compositional differences. Similarly, the physicochemical characteristics of chitin and chitosan differ between crustacean species and preparation methods. Several studies have clearly demonstrated the specific characteristics of these products. The Mw and degree of deacetylation (DD) vary with process conditions. The physicochemical characteristics of chitin and chitosan influence their functional properties. Mw and DD vary with process conditions or different extraction methods. Chitosan's application depends on physical, biological, and chemical properties and chitosan depends on two parameters, such as DD and Mw.

The Uses of Chitin

chitin (chitine) is a moisture retainer and film-forming agent. This is a naturally occurring polysaccharide found in the shells of crustaceans, such as shrimp and crab, as well as in some fungi and algae. It is also a naturally occuring fibre found in the shells of shellfish. Used for the analysis of chitinase. lysozyme substrate.

What are the applications of Application

Chitin, a β(1,4) polymer chain of N-acetyl-D glucosamine, is used as a substrate to identify, differentiate and characterize chitinase(s) and chitin deacetylase(s). Chitin may be used as a viscosity/thickening agent or binder.

What are the applications of Application

Chitin is a long chain polymer of a glucose derivative found in cell walls

Definition

ChEBI: Chitin is a polysaccharide comprisingchains of N-acetyl-d-glucosamine,a derivative of glucose. Chitin isstructurally very similar to celluloseand serves to strengthen the supportingstructures of various invertebrates. It is the second most abundant biopolymer on earth, found especially in insects and fungi.

Agricultural Uses

Chitin is a polysaccharidec omprising chains of N-acetyl- D-glucosamine, a derivative of glucose, linked byβ-1,4 bonds and containing about 77 nitrogen atoms. It may be visualized as cellulose in which the hydroxyl groups on the second carbon are replaced by -NHCOCH₃ groups Chitin is structurally very similar to cellulose and serves to strengthen various invertebrates. It offers resistance to chemicals and is present in the cell wall of some fungi as well as in the exoskeleton of insects.

References

Kumar, Majeti NV Ravi. "A review of chitin and chitosan applications." Reactive and functional polymers 46.1 (2000): 1-27.
Jayakumar, R., et al. "Biomedical applications of chitin and chitosan based nanomaterials—A short review." Carbohydrate Polymers 82.2 (2010): 227-232.