Globally, the broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity of chitin and chitosan has been widely documented. However, very little research attention has focused on chitin and chitosan extracted from black soldier fly pupal exuviae, which are abundantly present as byproducts from insect-farming enterprises. This study presents the first comparative analysis of chemical and biological extraction of chitin and chitosan from BSF pupal exuviae. The antibacterial activity of chitosan was also evaluated. For chemical extraction, demineralization and deproteinization were carried out using 1 M hydrochloric acid at 100 °C for 2 h and 1 M NaOH for 4 h at 100 °C, respectively. Biological chitin extraction was carried out by protease-producing bacteria and lactic-acid-producing bacteria for protein and mineral removal, respectively. The extracted chitin was converted to chitosan via deacetylation using 40% NaOH for 8 h at 100 °C. Chitin characterization was done using FTIR spectroscopy, while the antimicrobial properties were determined using the disc diffusion method. Chemical and biological extraction gave a chitin yield of 10.18% and 11.85%, respectively. A maximum chitosan yield of 6.58% was achieved via chemical treatment. From the FTIR results, biological and chemical chitin showed characteristic chitin peaks at 1650 and 1550 cm−1—wavenumbers corresponding to amide I stretching and amide II bending, respectively. There was significant growth inhibition for Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis,Pseudomonas aeruginosa,Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans when subjected to 2.5 and 5% concentrations of chitosan. Our findings demonstrate that chitosan from BSF pupal exuviae could be a promising and novel therapeutic agent for drug development against resistant strains of bacteria.

Thus far, no expedition has comprehensively surveyed the composition of bird species in the dilapidated habitats of Nyando sugar belt, Western Kenya. This has made it difficult unearthing equilibrium between agricultural growth and bird species conservation. In response, we conducted bird assessment by stratifying the expedition area into farmlands and shrub-land. We then sampled birds by the standard point count method and opportunistic counts within a 30 m radius parcel of land. We exhaustively observed 1450 birds of 122 species. The farmland recorded a density of 2.065 ± 1.11 birds per hectare whereas the shrub-land had a density of 1.644 ± 0.70 birds per hectare. Nyando sugar belt was a diverse community with a Shannon diversity index value (H') of 3.225 regardless of the birds being constrained in certain habitats. The magnitude of the disparity in true diversity indicated that the farmland was 4 times more diverse than the shrub-land. The facts promoted by this research validate the incorporation of bird conservation in the farmland and formulation of avian conservation strategies.