Background Insects are a living resource used for human nutrition, medicine, and industry. Several potential sources of proteins, peptides, and biopolymers, such as silk, chitin, and chitosan are utilized in industry and for biotechnology applications. Chitosan is an amino-polysaccharide derivative of chitin that consists of linear amino polysaccharides with d -glucosamine and N-acetyl- d -glucosamine units. Currently, the chief commercial sources of chitin and chitosan are crustacean shells that accumulate as a major waste product from the marine food industry. Existing chitin resources have some natural challenges, including insufficient supplies, seasonal availability, and environmental pollution. As an alternative, insects could be utilized as unconventional but feasible sources of chitin and chitosan. Scope and approach This review focuses on the recent sources of insect chitin and chitosan, particularly from the Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Orthoptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Dictyoptera, and Odonata orders. In addition, the extraction methods and physicochemical characteristics are discussed. Insect chitin and chitosan have numerous biological activities and could be used for food, biomedical, and industrial applications. Key findings and conclusions Recently, the invasive and harmful effects of insect species causing severe damage in agricultural crops has led to great economic losses globally. These dangerous species serve as potential sources of chitin and are underutilized worldwide. The conclusion of the present study provides better insight into the conversion of insect waste-derived chitin into value-added products as an alternative chitin source to address food security related challenges.

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Each year, mosquito-borne diseases infect nearly 700 million people, resulting to more than 1 million deaths. In this study, we evaluated the larvicidal, pupicidal, and smoke toxicity of Senna occidentalis and Ocimum basilicum leaf extracts against the malaria vector Anopheles stephensi. Furthermore, the antiplasmodial activity of plant extracts was evaluated against chloroquine (CQ)-resistant (CQ-r) and CQ-sensitive (CQ-s) strains of Plasmodium falciparum. In larvicidal and pupicidal experiments, S. occidentalis LC50 ranged from 31.05 (I instar larvae) to 75.15 ppm (pupae), and O. basilicum LC50 ranged from 29.69 (I instar larvae) to 69 ppm (pupae). Smoke toxicity experiments conducted against adults showed that S. occidentalis and O. basilicum coils evoked mortality rates comparable to the pyrethrin-based positive control (38, 52, and 42%, respectively). In antiplasmodial assays, Senna occidentalis 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) were 48.80 μg/ml (CQ-s) and 54.28 μg/ml (CQ-r), while O. basilicum IC50 were 68.14 μg/ml (CQ-s) and 67.27 μg/ml (CQ-r). Overall, these botanicals could be considered as potential sources of metabolites to build newer and safer malaria control tools.

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