Extraction et caractérisation de la chitine et du chitosan obtenus à partir de biomasses.

Commercial chitosan is obtained by chemical modification of chitin, the major component of the exoskeleton of crustacean shells. Both chitin and chitosan are linear copolymers of N-acetylglucosamine and glucosamine. These biopolymers can be also extracted from other sources, i.e., fungal biomass. In this chapter, methods for chitin and chitosan extraction from biomass will be considered. The properties of obtained products depend on the process used, the source of the raw chitinous material, and its chemical treatment before processing. The processes of extraction from the different sources and the methods of characterization of chitin and chitosan are also discussed.