Chitin (Figure 1), a mucopolysaccharide and the supporting
material of crustaceans and insects, is the second most abundant
polymer after cellulose found in nature; it is produced
by many living organisms and is present usually in a complex
with other polysaccharides and proteins. Chitin was found as
a major component in arthropods (insects, crustaceans, arachnids,
and myriapods), nematodes, algae, and fungi [11–14].
Its immunogenicity is exceptionally low in spite of the
presence of nitrogen. It is highly insoluble material resembling
cellulose with its solubility and low chemical reactivity.
It may be regarded as cellulose with hydroxyl at position C-2
replaced by an acetamido group. Like cellulose, it functions
naturally as a structural polysaccharide. It is white, hard
inelastic nitrogenous polysaccharide [15, 16].
Chitin is a linear polysaccharide composed of (1 → 4)
linked 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-