title: Chitin and chitosan from Basidiomycetes.
abstract: Chitinous material was isolated from the mycelium of seven species of Basidiomycetes to evaluate the possibility of using fungal biomass as a source of chitin and chitosan. Such material was characterised for its purity, degree of acetylation and crystallinity. Chitin yields ranged between 8.5 and 19.6% dry weight and the chitosan yield was approximately 1%. The characteristics of the fungal chitins were similar to those of commercial chitin. Chitosans, with a low degree of acetylation, comparable with that of commercial chitosan, were obtained by the chemical deacetylation of fungal chitins.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Biologia Agroambientale e Forestale, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Area della Ricerca di Roma 1, RM Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Di Mario
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rapanà
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Tomati
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Galli
mesh_terms: D000107:Acetylation; D001487:Basidiomycota / Q000737:chemistry*; D002686:Chitin / Q000737:chemistry*; D017550:Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
chemical_list: D002686:Chitin