3D Chitin isolation from Blaberus giganteus

Abstract

Chitin is second most abundant polysaccharide, synthesized by an enormous numbers of living organisms. This natural polymer has very good properties, such as biodegradability, biocompatibility and non – toxicity. Chitin could be found in many applications: biomedical, pharmaceutical, food and environmental industries. This polymer could be separated in three – dimensional form. Aim of our study was to separate and characterize 3D chitin from Giant Cave Cockroaches (Blaberus giganteus) wings. This species were selected because they are one of the biggest cockroaches in the world and has two wing span of proximately 15 cm length. For 3D chitin isolation we used chemical method. Sodium hypochlorite for bleaching the samples, hydrogen chloride was used for demineralization and sodium hydroxide for deproteinization. Dried samples were characterized using FT-IR analysis. During our study B. giganteus chitin was first time successfully isolated. We detected, that 3D chitin had alpha form. Comparison among different cockroaches’ chitin was made. Because of size, easy breeding, very high survival level and tough wings structure, we state that B. giganteus is one of the most attractive source of all cockroaches.