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.
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