Comparative study of percentage yeild and solubilty of chitosan extracted from male and female short-horned grasshopper

Abstract

Chitin was extracted from the exoskeleton of the short-horned grasshopper (Schistocerca gregaria). Chitosan was then obtained by alkaline deacetylation of chitin and physicochemically characterized using Fourier Transformed Infra red Spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Chitin and chitosan were extracted using the conventional Acid-base reaction methods. The FTIR Spectroscopy of the chitosan from male and female short-horned grasshopper revealed that the obtained chitosan is in alpha (α) polymorphic form. This fact was confirmed by the scanning electron microscope (SEM) which shows the morphology of the chitosans from both species of the grasshopper. Solubility test of the extracts have shown that male grasshopper chitosan is much more soluble in 10% acetic acid than the corresponding female grasshopper chitosan obtained under the same experimental conditions.

Keywords: Chitin, chitosan, Deacetylation, solubility and percentage yield