ABSTRACT

Chitosan, a derivative of chitin, is widely used in the biomedical field, waste-water treatment and food industries. In 1811, chitin was discovered in mushrooms by Professor Henrni Braconnt and in 1820s, chitin was successfully isolated from insects (Bhatnagar and Sillanpää, 2009). It has been reported that chitin is the second most abundant natural polysaccharide after cellulose (Sun et al., 2010).