Chitin is a polysaccharide of animal origin found
abundantly in nature and characterized by a fibrous
structure. It forms the basis of the main constituent of the
outer skeleton of insects and crustaceans like shrimp, crabs
and lobster[1]. The chemical structure of chitin is similar to
cellulose, having one hydroxyl group on each monomer
substituted with an acetylamine group (Figure 1). The
extraction of chitin involves an acid removal of calcium
carbonate (demineralization), generally by hot reaction with
HCl, HNO3or HCl, etc., followed by a deproteinization
(removal of proteins). This step usually performed by
alkaline treatments (e.g. with NaOH)[1,2]. In its extracted
crude form, chitin has a highly ordered crystalline structure,
is translucent, resilient and quite tough. It has, however,
poor solubility and low reactivity.
Chitin is a polysaccharide of animal origin foundabundantly in nature and characterized by a fibrousstructure. It forms the basis of the main constituent of theouter skeleton of insects and crustaceans like shrimp, crabsand lobster[1]. The chemical structure of chitin is similar tocellulose, having one hydroxyl group on each monomersubstituted with an acetylamine group (Figure 1). Theextraction of chitin involves an acid removal of calciumcarbonate (demineralization), generally by hot reaction withHCl, HNO3or HCl, etc., followed by a deproteinization(removal of proteins). This step usually performed byalkaline treatments (e.g. with NaOH)[1,2]. In its extractedcrude form, chitin has a highly ordered crystalline structure,is translucent, resilient and quite tough. It has, however,poor solubility and low reactivity.
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