What is Chitin and Functions of Chitin?

 

Chitin Market

Chitin is a structural polysaccharide made up of modified glucose chains. Insect exoskeletons, fungus cell walls, and certain hard structures in invertebrates and fish all include chitin. Chitin is only second to cellulose in terms of abundance. Each year, organisms create over 1 billion tonnes of chitin throughout the biosphere. This incredibly adaptable molecule may create solid structures on its own, as in insect wings, or combine with additional components, such as calcium carbonate, to build even stronger materials, such as clam shells.

According to Coherent Market Insights the Chitin Market Global Industry Insights, Trends, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 2018-2026

Chitin, like cellulose, is not digestible by vertebrate animals on their own. Symbiotic bacteria and protozoa can break down the fibrous chitin into the glucose molecules that make it up in animals that eat insects. Chitin, on the other hand, is a biodegradable molecule that degrades over time and is utilised in a variety of industrial applications, including surgical thread and dye and glue binders.

Chitin is a structural polymer like cellulose and keratin. Structural polymers are strong fibres made up of smaller monomers or monosaccharides. The fibres make weak links between themselves when secreted in an orderly manner inside or outside of cells. This reinforces the entire structure. Chitin and cellulose are both carbohydrates, whereas keratin is a fibrous protein. Because structured polymers are only found in particular groups, they arose early in the evolution of life. Plants have cellulose, animals have keratin, and arthropods, mollusks, and fungi have chitin. Chitin and cellulose appeared early in the evolution of life, but keratin appeared in animals after plants and fungi had split off from the rest of the eukaryotes.