Insolation and characterization of chitin from different body structures of Plaxiphora aurata

Chitin studies of the Molluska phylum have mostly focused on bivalve gastropods and cephalopods. Although Polyplacophora is an ancient group of mollusks, little work has been done on chitin of these organisms. These few studies provide results for chitin types (alpha or beta) depending on the body parts examined. In this study, we examined the 3D structure of the chitin from three different body parts (skeleton, girdle and radula) of a chiton species (Plaxiphora aurata) to resolve this controversy. According to our TGA and FTIR results, it is seen that the typical signal of the chiton skeleton and belt is beta chitin, while the detected signal of the radula is among the typical signals of alpha and bata chitin. The chitin content of the dry weight of the body of the whole chiton was recorded as 27.82%. In addition, XRD, SEM and elemental analysis were performed to explain the features of the chitin. According to the data obtained, chitin isolated from chitons has a potential for use in the fields of food, cosmetics, medical and bioengineering due to its nono fiber structure. In addition, due to its high chitin content, it can be considered as an alternative to commercial chitin.