Depolymerization of chitin polymer is known to occur during the deacetylation process due to oxidative degradation of glycoside groups in the polymer chain. The depolymerization is not significant in most cases as the rate of this reaction is lower than that of deacetylation (Chebotok, Novikov, & Konovalova, 2006). However, we could obtain a water soluble component as a byproduct of the process which was confirmed to be chitosan through FTIR analysis. Their solubility at pH values higher than neutral indicates that they are short chain oligomers resulting from depolymerization of chitosan during the reaction.