Extraction and physicochemical characterization of chitin and chitosan isolated from house cricket

Chitin ranks next to cellulose as the most important bio-polysaccharide which is majorly extracted from crustaceous shell. However, emergence of new areas of application of chitin and its derivatives have been on the increase and there is a growing demand for new chitin sources. In this study therefore, attempt was made to extract chitin from house cricket (Brachytrupes portentosus) by chemical method. The physicochemical properties of chitin and chitosan extracted from crickets were compared with the commercial chitin and chitosan extracted from shrimp, in term of proximate analysis, particularly, of their ash and moisture contents. Also, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and elemental analysis were conducted. Chitin and chitosan yield of house cricket ranges over 4.3 - 7.1% and 2.4 - 5.8% respectively. Chitin and chitosan from crickets compared favourably with those extracted from shrimps, and were found to exhibit some similarities. The result showed that cricket and shrimp chitins and chitosans have the same DA and DD of 108.1% and 80.5% respectively, following FT-IR. The characteristic XRD strong/sharp peaks of 9.4 and 19.4° for α-chitin are common for both cricket and shrimp chitins. The percentage ash content of chitin and chitosan extracted from B. portentosus is 1%, lower than those obtained from shrimp products. Therefore cricket chitin and chitosan can be said to be of better quality and of purer form than commercially produced chitin and chitosan from shrimp. Base on quality of the product, chitin and chitosan isolated from B. portentosus can replace commercial chitin and chitosan in the place of utilization and applications. Therefore, B. portentosus is thus a promising alternative source of chitin and chitosan.