Extraction and characterization of chitin and chitosan with antimicrobial and antioxidant activities from cosmopolitan Orthoptera species (Insecta)

Abstract

This study examined two gregarious Orthoptera species (Calliptamus barbarus and Oedaleus decorus) as potential sources of chitin. The chitin content of the dry weight of C. barbarus was 20.5 ± 0.7%, and it was 16.5 ± 0.7% for O. decorus. Furthermore, the yield of chitosan (70 75% deacetylation degree) from the grasshopper species was found to be 74 ~ 76%, which is close to the yield of commercial preparations obtained from the unused parts of crabs and shrimp. The chitin and chitosan obtained in this way were analyzed using FTIR, TGA, XRD and SEM techniques, and the antimicrobial properties of chitosans obtained from C. barbarus and O. decorus against pathogenic microorganisms of humans and fish were investigated using the disc diffusion and microdilution broth methods. The antimicrobial screening procedures indicated that the chitosan showed significant antimicrobial activity against all of the tested pathogenic microorganisms. The MBC or MFC values were determined to be 0.16 ~ 2.50 mg/mL. The IC 50 values for the chitins obtained from C. barbarus and O. decorus were 10.68 ± 0.27 and 10.91 ± 0.96 mg/mL, respectively, which were greater than the value for butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT): 0.04 ± 0.01 mg/mL. These results suggest that these two species, which are currently considered to be pests because of over-breeding, are potentially alternative sources of chitin and chitosan, which are used in the food/feed industry for their antimicrobial and antioxidant properties.

Modeling the Inhibition of Vibrio cholerae Non-01 in Trypticase Soy Broth by Chitosan of Low and High Molecular Weight

“…No et al (2003), reported a reduction of up to 7.5 logarithmic cycles of V. parahaemolyticus in 24 h at 37 • C, using the same chitosan concentration than in our study, but with a lower molecular weight (81 KDa). Similar inhibition concentrations were reported by Yang et al (2005) who was able to reduce 7 log cycles of E. coli in 6 h at 37 • C. Kaya et al (2015) presented similar inhibition of V. alginolyticus with chitosan obtained from insects (cosmopolitan Orthoptera species); the effect was even better than the antibacterial activity presented by standard antibiotics. Raafat and Sahl (2009) explains that a MW higher than 100 KDa is required for chitosan to present microbial inhibition.…”

Chitin and chitosan from Brazilian Atlantic Coast: Isolation, characterization and antibacterial activity

“…Chitin is one of the most abundant amino polysaccharides found Q3 in nature next to cellulose; it has a wide variety of sources as exoskeleton of crustacean (crab, shrimp and crawfish, Oniscus asellus) [1][2][3][4], insect cuticles (Melolontha melolontha) [3], Orthoptera species [5,6], wings of cockroach [7], grasshopper species [8], medicinal fungus [9], larvae and adult Colorado potato beetle [10], aquatic invertebrates [11], bat guano [12], resting eggs of Daphnia longispina [13], spider species [14], Daphnia magna resting eggs [15], and cell wall of fungi and in the green algae. The chemical structure of chitin (C 8 H 13 O 5 N) n is similar to cellulose, having one hydroxyl group on each monomer substituted with an acetyl amine groups.…”

Biodegradable and Biocompatible Systems Based on Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticles

“…CHI is biocompatible, biodegradable and has interesting properties (e.g., antimicrobial and antioxidant activities) that justify its use in multiple fields such as biology, food nutrition, medicine (e.g., tissue engineering), and pharmacy [38][39][40][41][42]. CHI based tissues should mimic the behavior of the replaced tissue, being an ideal system with a practically insoluble outer surface and an inner surface (i.e., in contact with the tissue) capable to experience a progressive degradation and a complete resorption after finishing the regeneration process.…”