Chitinous materials

More recently chitosan polymers which are derivatives of chitin materials have evoked interest due to their bioactivity and biodegradability. For example, N-carboxybutyl chitosan has been show to effectively promote wound healing (9). Acetate, and butyrate derivatives of chitosan have decreased blood clotting time significantly (10). 

A number of invertebrates deposit phosphate in their shell structures24. In the articulate brachiopod shell — Lingula — apatite crystallites occur up to about 1000 A long. Little is known, however, on the nature of shell organic matter, except that the amount of chitinous material exceeds that of protein fraction by a factor of two408. ... 

Ninety-six fungi from tropical coral reefs were tested for their content of chitinous material [54], and the mycelium of one, Rhizopus orizae (Absidiaceae), was selected for its content of chitosan-glucosamine (5.4%) and of chitinous glucosamine (1.27%). The production of chitinous substances by this fungus was stimulated in culture by addition of 1.5% of NaCl [55]. 

Duarte M.L., Ferreira M.C., MarvSo M.R., Rocha J., Determination of the degree of acetylation of chitin materials by... 

In order to improve microbial production, serious attention was given to determine the effect of fermentation conditions on the production yield and on the polymers physicochemical properties. Generally, the yield and composition of the polysaccharide depend on the microbial species used, age of the producing microbial cells and growth, cultivation medium, and conditions. The chitinous compounds content also depends on the type of fermentation and extraction method. An increase in chitinous material can be obtained either by increased biomass yield or by an increase in the cell wall content of chitin/chitosan. A summary of the advantages and disadvantages of several biotechnological possibilities to produce chitin/chitosan can be found in Table 3.1. 

The principles of CHO structure are explained in this chapter and applications of MS for structure determination of CHOs obtained by chemical or enzymatic methods as well as applications of MS for investigations of the kinetics and mechanisms of chitinolytic enzymes are reviewed. We will not consider stereoisomerism due to a- and p-anomeric configurations, investigations on V-acetylhexosaminidases, studies on V-glycans of glycoproteins containing a Af,Af -diacetylchitobiose core, detection of chitinous materials in biological samples by pyrolysis GC-MS, and use of MS for... 

Ge, Z., Baguenard, S., Lim, LY, Wee, A., Khor, E. 2004. Hydroxyapatite chitin materials as potential tissue engineered bone substitutes. Biomaterials 25 1049-1058. 

Wang S. L., Lin H. T., Liang T. W. et al. 2008b. Reclamation of chitinous materials by bromelain for the preparation of antitumor and antifungal materials. Bioresour Technol 99 4386-4393. 

Muzzarelli, R.A.A., P. Ilari, W. Xia, M. Pinotti M. Tomasetti. 1994. Tyrosinase-mediated quinone tanning of chitinous materials. Carbohyd. Polym. 24 295-300. 

---