Insect-based chitin and chitosan from whole body sources and  rearing by-products: Extraction, physicochemical, structural  and bioactivity characterisation

Navarro, P.; Ribeiro, J.C.; Luís, Â.; Domingues, F.; Anjos, O.; Cunha, L.M.

Publication

Insect-based chitin and chitosan from whole body sources and rearing by-products: Extraction, physicochemical, structural and bioactivity characterisation

2025Research article

dc.contributor.author	Navarro, P.
dc.contributor.author	Ribeiro, J.C.
dc.contributor.author	Luís, Â.
dc.contributor.author	Domingues, F.
dc.contributor.author	Anjos, O.
dc.contributor.author	Cunha, L.M.
dc.date.accessioned	2025-04-17T11:56:35Z
dc.date.available	2025-04-17T11:56:35Z
dc.date.issued	2025
dc.description	Só está disponível online o Material Suplemenmtar.
dc.description.abstract	Fractionation of edible insects and their rearing by-products can lead to expanded industrial applications and extraction of value-added products. The main goal of this study was to extract chitin and synthesise chitosan from three different insect sources ‒ Tenebrio molitor larvae, adult Acheta domesticus and A. domesticus rearing by-products (legs and wings). Furthermore, the physicochemical, structural, and bioactive properties of insect-derived chitin and chitosan were characterised and compared to commercial crustacean-based samples. Chitin was isolated from defatted sources through chemical hydrolysis followed by decolourisation and was deacetylated with a strong alkaline solution to synthesise chitosan. Notably, A. domesticus rearing by-products yielded the highest chitin and chitosan content. Chitin and chitosan derived from insects exhibited physicochemical and structural characteristics consistent with the α-polymorphic form, similar to the commercial samples. Differences were found in surface morphology, with insect-derived samples presenting large and irregular flakes and porosity, while the crustacean-derived samples presented irregularly arranged fibres and a more regular and smoother surface. As for antioxidant activity, although all chitosan samples demonstrated poor DPPH radical scavenging activity, this study showed for the first time that insect-derived chitosan presents lipid peroxidation inhibition ability. All chitosan samples presented antimicrobial activity against different pathogenic bacteria, with K. pneumoniae being the most susceptible strain. Nevertheless, there is potential for enhancement of the biological properties through modifications on the molecular weight and deacetylation degree. This research introduces the potential of cricket-rearing by-products as sustainable sources of chitosan with functional bioactive properties.	eng
dc.identifier.citation	NAVARRO, P. [et al.] (2025) - Insect-based chitin and chitosan from whole body sources and rearing by-products: Extraction, physicochemical, structural and bioactivity characterisation. Brill Online. Journal of Insects, Food and Feed. DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.28041710.v1
dc.identifier.doi	10.6084/m9.figshare.28041710.v1
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10400.11/10145
dc.language.iso	eng
dc.peerreviewed	yes
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subject	Insect
dc.subject	Chitin
dc.subject	Chitosan
dc.title	Insect-based chitin and chitosan from whole body sources and rearing by-products: Extraction, physicochemical, structural and bioactivity characterisation	por
dc.type	research article
dspace.entity.type	Publication
oaire.citation.title	Brill Online. Journal of Insects, Food adn Feed
oaire.version	http://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
person.familyName	Anjos
person.givenName	Ofélia
person.identifier.ciencia-id	C21D-D8C7-3037
person.identifier.orcid	0000-0003-0267-3252
person.identifier.rid	G-2808-2012
person.identifier.scopus-author-id	23395659700
relation.isAuthorOfPublication	df9191ae-0bbb-4bb8-bbdc-0f79c7365876
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery	df9191ae-0bbb-4bb8-bbdc-0f79c7365876