Liquid chromatography measurement obtained from the chitin extracts of insect exuviae

Chitin, a biopolymer present in fungi and arthropods, is a compound of interest for various applications, such as in the agricultural and medical fields. With the recently growing interest in the development of insect farming, the availability of chitin-containing residual streams, particularly the molting skins (exuviae), is expected to increase in the near future. For application purposes, accurate quantification of chitin in these insect sources is essential. Previous studies on chitin extraction and quantification often overlooked the purity of the extracted chitin, making the outcomes inconsistent and prone to overestimation. The present study aims to determine chitin content in the exuviae of three insect species mass-reared worldwide: black soldier fly (BSF), mealworm, and house cricket. Chitin was chemically extracted using acid and alkali treatments to remove minerals and proteins. The purity of extracted chitin was evaluated by hydrolyzing the chitin into glucosamine, followed...