Production and Applications of an Environmental Friendly Biopolymers– Chitin and Chitosan

Chitin is one of the three most abundant polysaccharides in nature in addition to cellulose and starch. It ranks second to cellulose as the most plentiful organic compound on earth. Chitin is made up of a linear chain of acetyl glucosamine groups where as Chitosan is obtained by removing enough acetyl groups( -CH3 Co) for the molecule to be soluble in most diluted acids, thus realeases amino groups and gives the Chitosan a cationic character which is responsible for its many uses. Chitin and Chitosan have the same chemical structure and both are nontoxic biodegradable polymers of high molecular weight. Like cellulose chitin is a fiber and in addition, it presents exceptional chemical and biological qualities that can be used in many industrial and medical applications. Chitosan which is a deacetylated product of chitin and characterised by two principal factors i.e, viscosity and degree of deacetylation. These two factors decide the quality and price of Chitosan. Commercially today’s market for Chitin/Chitosan are into many sectors such as in dietary supplements to reduce cholesterol and fat, in biomedical applications and textiles.