Purified by a modification of the method of Hirano, S. and Nagao, N., Agric. Biol. Chem., 52, 2111 (1988).
Application
Chitin from shrimp shells, a long-chain polymer of a β-1,4 linked N-acetylglucosamine residues, may be used to study its physicochemical properties and role in the formation of arthropod exoskeletons. It may be used to identify and characterize chitinase(s) and chitin deacetylase(s), as a standard to study the structure of chitins from other species and as a viscosity/thickening agent or binder. Chitin from shrimp shells may be used in chitin asthma and allergy research.