title: Chitin: New facets of research.
abstract: Research on chitin as a marine resource is pointing to novel applications for this cellulose-like biopolymer. Discovery of nondegrading solvent systems has permitted the spinning of filaments, for example, for use as surgical sutures. New methods for preparing the bioactive alkyl glycoside of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (the monomer unit of chitin) and a microcrystalline chitin has encouraged their use as promoters for growth of bifidobacteria and as an aid in digestion of high-lactose cheese whey by domestic animals. Chitin-protein complexes of several crustacean species show great variability in ratios of chitin to covalently bound protein and in residual protein in the "purified" chitins.
mesh_terms: D000821:Animal Feed; D000818:Animals; D002611:Cheese; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D002645:Chickens; D002686:Chitin; D003461:Crystallography; D007785:Lactose / Q000378:metabolism; D011506:Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D013537:Sutures; D013672:Technology
chemical_list: D011506:Proteins; D002686:Chitin; D007785:Lactose