Isolation and physicochemical characterization of chitin obtained from wing and the other body part of butterfly (Argynnis pandora)

This study was carried out to understand the differences in the physicochemical properties of chitin samples obtained from the wings and the other body parts except the wings of a butterfly species (Argynnis pandora). The same isolation method was followed for obtaining chitin specimens from both types of body parts. The chitin content of the wings (22%) was observed as being much higher than the other body parts (8%). The isolated chitin samples were characterized by FT-IR, TGA, XRD, SEM, and elemental analysis techniques. Results of these characterizations revealed that the chitins from both structures (wings and other body parts) were very similar, except for their surface morphologies. SEM analysis results demonstrated one type of surface morphology for the wings and four different surface morphologies for the other body parts of butterfly. Thus, it can be hypothesized that the surface morphology of the chitin is highly related with the body part of butterfly.