| Popis: |
Chitin is considered the second most plentiful organic resource on the earth next to cellulose, and is present in marine invertebrates, insects, fungi and yeasts. Chitin is essentially a homopolymer of 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-β-D-glucopyranose, although some of the glucopyranose residues are in the deacetylated form as 2-amino-2-deoxy-β-D-glucopyranose. When chitin is further deacetylated to about 50% it becomes soluble in dilute acids and is referred to as chitosan. Thus chitosan is the N-deacetylated derivative of chitin, although the N-deacetylation is almost never complete. There is not a sharp boundary in the nomenclature distinguishing chitin from chitosan. Chitin does occur in nature in the fully acetylated form and has been referred to as chitan [1]. Chitosan rarely occurs in nature, but is found in the dimorphic fungus, Mucor rouxii [2]. Its occurrence in Mucor rouxii is via the enzymatic deacetylation of chitin. |
