Preparation of Chitosan from Insects 

Bro plz tell me thiss useg

Dear Arthur, Unfortunately I am very busy with my work in this period. Moreover, the hunt of antimicrobial peptides from the compost is more difficult than I was supposing. In the next months I should be able to prepare and test a chitosan oligosaccharide extracted from the insects cuticulae that should have antimicrobial properties. Best regards, Alessandro

Hi, You could crosslinki using conventional cross-linking agents such as formaldheyde or di-epoxyde compounds. A quick-reacting alternative can be a zirconium salts such as ammonium zirconium carbonate. If you are looking to a natural alternative (but expensive) you could use genipin extracted from gardenia fruits. Best regards

I think a poor solubility may depends on the deegree of deacetylation: did you measure it?

Hi,, you need to neutralize the chitosan by adding an acid (e.g. chloridric, acetic, lactic...). You can starting adding a small amount of diluted acid and then stirring and observing: at a certain point a gel of chitosan (strenght depending on the MW of chitosan) will be formed.

@@sasarello8124Hi! Can you make a video about it and how you do it? It would be a big help

Eu também gostaria de ver um vídeo sobre a solubilização das diferentes quitosanas extraídas pelo seu método!

Yes it would be better but you need an improved filtration system in order to not loose small particles.

Thank you for the method. Chitosan is a great biomaterial and I would like to learn more about it. Kind regards.

Dear Chitrang, I did not measure the deacetylation degree. however, since the material swells in acidic solution it should be at least, let's say > 60 %. Regards treatment with H2O2 it may increase the deacetylation and the ash content, but again I did not measure. I hope this helps. Best Regards

@@sasarello8124 Thank you for your kind response :)

Crabs ~10%chitosan, shrimp shell ~30%

I know that reaching neutrality via washing may be a long operation. If you can tolerate in your application the presence of some salt you could stop washing before neutrality. You could assess the level of acidity or alkalinity residual via tritation. I hope this helps. Best.

@@sasarello8124 it helps a lot. Thanks.

Hi Eslam, I decided to start first with deproteinization because this operation can remove proteins before they became eventually denaturated. If you start with HCl you could denaturate proteins making them more resistant to removal. However, I think it is possible to start first with acid to remove carbonate; may be using less concentrated HCl solution and several acid treatments. Starting with 100 g of dried shrimp shells I obtained 40 g of chitin and then, after chitin hydrolysis, 20 g of chitosan (in amine form). Best regards, Alessandro

Andrei, May be you can do without stirring (magnetic or mechanic) but it would be better to stirr.

In this site: www.establish-fp7.eu/resources/units/chitosan-%E2%80%93-fatmagnet.html you will find a lot of pdf documents with methods. Regards

Not safe, It should be done in a lab with suitable equipment. Like in the video. Also don't forget personal protection equipment (gloves, glasses, labcoat)

Hi, if you go into this site: www.establish-fp7.eu/resources/units/chitosan-%E2%80%93-fatmagnet.html you will find detailed pdf(s) with synthesis, analysis etc. Regards

The article I think most usefull is on: zdch.uj.edu.pl/documents/87419401/94640242/ESTABLISH_Chitosan2_ANG.pdf - if not work, try to google: european science and technology in action: chitosan fat magnet. Best regards

Hi in: www.establish-fp7.eu/resources/units/chitosan-%E2%80%93-fatmagnet.html there are a lot of pdf with methods.

I Keertika, I was inspired by the material in the site: www.establish-fp7.eu/resources/units/chitosan-%E2%80%93-fatmagnet.html

Probably recover of proteins could be of interest in my opinion. Best regards

Hello, It is an IKA (it is the name of the manufacturer) stirrer/hot plate. Best regards

I think yes you can do it.

Dear Ants, I also had a lot of difficulty with whitening. In the end, for 1g of cuticles I used 50ml of 35% H2O2 for 2 hours at 60°C (pH 8.5 for sodium bicarbonate). Suggest modifying by raising the pH to 10 using sodium carbonate instead of bicarbonate. Best regards

Just my opinion: yes if part of an economic chain where the fly is used for (in order of importance) 1) production of proteins for cicken and pigs 2) the fly eating vegetable garbage helps to waste management 3) production of oil 4) fly fertilizer ... and 5) with the abandoned shells chitin and chitosan could be produced. The method I used in lab is also essentially used industrially but trying to recycle reagents as much as possible and minimizing wastes. For a quick info pls. visit Protix site: protix.eu/ Best

It is an electric heater. Ciao

No, it is more concentrated: 50 g NaOH in 50 g (or ml) of water

Dear Jude, Sorry but I do not have a paper about this study. Small amounts can be prepared using a mortar

@@sasarello8124 Hi! Thank you for replying to my message but how can I make the chitosan water soluble because I am planning to make wrapper that can preserve or prolong shelf life of vegetables

Hi, I did not try superworm; my be all depends on how much chitin it contains.....

I think yes, even if I did not try....

Good question: I am not an entomologist, however , bee being an insect should contain chitin. But I think that on a practical point of view the whole biomass from an hive is very low if compared to that can be obtained from the black soldier fly. Best

What they are doing is catching all of the feces the maggots lay, and when each time the maggots most it leaves a shell behind. You might be able to use the dead bees but does it also contain its feces (castings) don't the bees go through the larvae stage inside the comb? If you have enough whole dead bees then go for it. The fecal matter is more of a nitrogen source but the bees still contain the Chitin. You can pick up nitrogen from just about anything else its not needed in with the Chitin. I get it from crustreantion shells being I live on the coast and compost it down or make a tea if need be

I can send you my protocol if you send me your email. Regards

Sir I sent you a mail

@@hnrworld3619 You can write to: ale.gagliardini@gmail.com

Procedure: In a round-bottom flask 150 ml sodium hydroxide solution are added to 2 g of chitin. The apparatus is (should be....) flushed with nitrogen and then it is closed air-tightly with a nitrogen-filled balloon. Now the mixture is heated under stirring to at 125°C for one hour. The mixture is allowed to cool and then 100 ml of water are added. The next day the mixture is filtered off and the residue is washed with water to neutral reaction and dried in the oven at 60°C. I hope this helps, best regards

@@sasarello8124 Extremely useful sir. I greatly appreciate your response.

@@sasarello8124 Is it necessary to wash the mixture in every step after 1 day?

@@mahourfarzan Unfortunately, yes. Best!

@@mahourfarzan Hi, No you can wait just 1 hour. Best regards

Hi Paul, demi water means demineralized water (water with a very low level of minerals). Regards.

YES

@@sasarello8124 thank you so much shall I alter the solution quantity according to the exoskeleton weight or else same as shown in video

@@akshayasenthil4398 Yes.

Hi Carlos could you send me an email?

yes, can you send me an email pls.?