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Chitin

About: Chitin is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 6590 publications have been published within this topic receiving 253993 citations.


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TL;DR: The results suggest that these two species, currently considered to be pests because of over-breeding, are potentially alternative sources of chitin and chitosan, which are used in the food/feed industry for their antimicrobial and antioxidant properties.
Abstract: This study examined two gregarious Orthoptera species (Calliptamus barbarus and Oedaleus decorus) as potential sources of chitin. The chitin content of the dry weight of C. barbarus was 20.5 ± 0.7%, and it was 16.5 ± 0.7% for O. decorus. Furthermore, the yield of chitosan (70 ~ 75% deacetylation degree) from the grasshopper species was found to be 74 ~ 76%, which is close to the yield of commercial preparations obtained from the unused parts of crabs and shrimp. The chitin and chitosan obtained in this way were analyzed using FTIR, TGA, XRD and SEM techniques, and the antimicrobial properties of chitosans obtained from C. barbarus and O. decorus against pathogenic microorganisms of humans and fish were investigated using the disc diffusion and microdilution broth methods. The antimicrobial screening procedures indicated that the chitosan showed significant antimicrobial activity against all of the tested pathogenic microorganisms. The MBC or MFC values were determined to be 0.16 ~ 2.50 mg/mL. The IC50 values for the chitins obtained from C. barbarus and O. decorus were 10.68 ± 0.27 and 10.91 ± 0.96 mg/mL, respectively, which were greater than the value for butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT): 0.04 ± 0.01 mg/mL. These results suggest that these two species, which are currently considered to be pests because of over-breeding, are potentially alternative sources of chitin and chitosan, which are used in the food/feed industry for their antimicrobial and antioxidant properties.

115 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A chitin nanofiber-silk biomimetic nanocomposite with enhanced mechanical properties is self-assembled from solution to yield ultrafine chit in nanofibers embedded in a silk matrix.
Abstract: A chitin nanofiber-silk biomimetic nanocomposite with enhanced mechanical properties is self-assembled from solution to yield ultrafine chitin nanofibers embedded in a silk matrix.

115 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a high-efficiency, energy-saving, and "green" route for the fabrication of extremely strong and transparent chitin films is described in which chitins is dissolved in an aqueous KOH/urea solution and neutralized in aaqueous ethanol solution.
Abstract: Crystalline polysaccharides are useful for important and rapidly growing applications ranging from advanced energy storage, green electronics, and catalyst or enzyme supports to tissue engineering and biological devices. However, the potential value of chitin in such applications is currently neglected because of its poor swellability, reactivity, and solubility in most commonly used solvents. Here, a high-efficiency, energy-saving, and “green” route for the fabrication of extremely strong and transparent chitin films is described in which chitin is dissolved in an aqueous KOH/urea solution and neutralized in aqueous ethanol solution. The neutralization temperature, ethanol concentration, and chitin solution deacetylation time are critical parameters for the self-assembly of chitin chains and for tuning the morphology and aggregate structures of the resulting chitin hydrogels and films. Moreover, the drawing orientation can produce extremely strong and tough chitin films with a tensile strength, Young's modulus, and work of fracture of 226 MPa, 7.2 GPa, and 20.3 MJ m−3, respectively. The method developed here should contribute to the utilization of seafood waste and, thereby, to the sustainable use of marine resources.

115 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Inhibition has only been observed of spore germination, of cell separation in budding yeasts and of the action of a yeast toxin, and not of apical extension or branching, but the finding that chitinase activities in situ have different properties to those in cell homogenates, and appear to be protected from environmental stresses is explained.
Abstract: Filamentous fungi with chitin as a major component of their cell walls produce chitinases at all stages of active growth, i.e. during spore germination, exponential growth and mycelial development. The roles of chitinases in these processes have been investigated by assessing the effects of treatment with the inhibitor, allosamidin. Inhibition has only been observed, however, of spore germination, of cell separation in budding yeasts and of the action of a yeast toxin, and not of apical extension or branching. This may be explained by the finding that chitinase activities in situ have different properties to those in cell homogenates, and appear to be protected from environmental stresses.

115 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Active structures showed to inhibit (1,3)-beta-D-glucan and mainly chitin synthases, enzymes that catalyze the synthesis of the major fungal cell wall polymers.

114 citations


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Performance
Metrics
No. of papers in the topic in previous years
YearPapers
2023434
2022868
2021271
2020354
2019333
2018271