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Chitin and Chitosan

  • Reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Polymeric Nanomaterials

Synonyms

Polyose; Polysaccharide

Definition

Chitin and chitosan are found as supporting materials in many aquatic organisms, insects, mushrooms, and microorganisms and are biocompatible, biodegradable, nontoxic, and antimicrobial in nature. Historical parts, properties, and applications in chitin and chitosan are mainly argued.

Historical Parts

In 1811, French chemist and pharmacist Henri Braconnot discovered the alkaline-insoluble fraction from mushrooms by treatment with dilute warm alkali. He analyzed nitrogen content in the liquid obtained from distillation of alkali-insoluble fraction and found out that ammonia contained in the liquid. He gave the name alkaline-insoluble fraction as “fungine” (the ancient name of chitin) [1, 2]. In 1823, Antoine Odier isolated the alkaline-insoluble fraction from cuticles of insects (May bug) by repeated treatments with hot KOH solutions, and he gave the name of the alkaline-insoluble fraction as chitine. The word was derived from Greek word...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Chemistry, Materials and Bioengineering, Kansai University, 3-3-35 Yamatecho, Suita, Osaka, 564-8680, Japan

    Hiroshi Tamura & Tetsuya Furuike

Authors
  1. Hiroshi Tamura
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  2. Tetsuya Furuike
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hiroshi Tamura .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Fiber and Textile Science, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Matsugasaki, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan

    Shiro Kobayashi

  2. Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany

    Klaus Müllen

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© 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Tamura, H., Furuike, T. (2015). Chitin and Chitosan. In: Kobayashi, S., Müllen, K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Polymeric Nanomaterials. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-29648-2_322

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