Skip to main content

REVIEW article

Front. Mater.
Sec. Biomaterials and Bio-Inspired Materials
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmats.2025.1537067

Chitin: A Comparison between its main sources

Provisionally accepted
Hamzeh Izadi Hamzeh Izadi *Homa Asadi Homa Asadi Marjan Bemani Marjan Bemani
  • Vali-E-Asr University of Rafsanjan, Rafsanjān, Iran

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Chitin is the second most abundant polysaccharide on Earth, after cellulose, and it is mainly obtained from the shells of crustaceans. While chitin is currently derived from shrimp shells, there is a growing interest in commercializing chitin sourced from insects. This review compares chitin from various sources, including crustaceans, insects, fungi, and mollusks, based on several factors: purity, molecular weight, crystallinity, cost, and sustainability.Although crustaceans yield higher amounts of chitin and exhibit better crystallinity, insects present significant advantages in terms of sustainability, ease of extraction, and lower impurity levels. Chitin derived from insects is emerging as a sustainable alternative due to its simpler extraction processes and reduced environmental impact. This work highlights the increasing potential of insects as a reliable source for sustainable chitin production.

    Keywords: Insects, Chitin, Chitosan, crustacean, arthropod, demineralization

    Received: 29 Nov 2024; Accepted: 07 Feb 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Izadi, Asadi and Bemani. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Hamzeh Izadi, Vali-E-Asr University of Rafsanjan, Rafsanjān, Iran

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.