Crab vs. Mushroom: A Review of Crustacean and Fungal Chitin in Wound Treatment

Abstract

Chitin and its derivative chitosan are popular constituents in wound-treatment technologies due to their nanoscale fibrous morphology and attractive biomedical properties that accelerate healing and reduce scarring. These abundant natural polymers found in arthropod exoskeletons and fungal cell walls affect almost every phase of the healing process, acting as hemostatic and antibacterial agents that also support cell proliferation and attachment. However, key differences exist in the structure, properties, processing, and associated polymers of fungal and arthropod chitin, affecting their respective application to wound treatment. High purity crustacean-derived chitin and chitosan have been widely investigated for wound-treatment applications, with research incorporating chemically modified chitosan derivatives and advanced nanocomposite dressings utilizing biocompatible additives, such as natural polysaccharides, mineral clays, and metal nanoparticles used to achieve excellent mechanical and biomedical properties. Conversely, fungi-derived chitin is covalently decorated with -glucan and has received less research interest despite its mass production potential, simple extraction process, variations in chitin and associated polymer content, and the established healing properties of fungal exopolysaccharides. This review investigates the proven biomedical properties of both fungal- and crustacean-derived chitin and chitosan, their healing mechanisms, and their potential to advance modern wound-treatment methods through further research and practical application.

Characterization and Mathematical Modeling of Alginate/Chitosan-Based Nanoparticles Releasing the Chemokine CXCL12 to Attract Glioblastoma Cells

“…Indeed, chitosan is a biodegradable polysaccharide considered as biocompatible with low immunogenicity and lack of toxicity, and it possesses antitumor, antifungal, and antibacterial activities [5]. It is obtained after partial deacetylation of the chitin, a poly (β-(1→4)-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine), found in crustacean shells (crabs and prawn), the cocoon of insects, and fungi cell wall [6][7][8]. However, due to its cationic and alkaline nature, chitosan must be modified to bear carboxyl groups or combined with negatively charged polymers such as alginate to form NPs that can better entrap positively charged molecules [9][10][11].…”

Animal-Origin Prebiotics Based on Chitin: An Alternative for the Future? A Critical Review

“…However, fishing these tiny organisms is not commercially viable; and subsequently, considered as shellfish industry waste, such as shrimp, crab and lobster shells with a chitin content of 8-40% are the main source of chitin [30,31]. Fungi provide an alternative source of chitin and, despite having a lower chitin content than crustaceans (10-26% as a chitin-β-(1,3/1,6) glucan complex, GC), are attracting increasing scientific and food industry interest [33,34].…”

“…The chitin content can widely vary between different sources, ranging from 16-23% in lobster shells, 25-30% in crab shells and 34-49% in krill shells to 18-38% in cockroach cuticles, 22-64% in butterfly cuticles, 20-44% in silkworm, 8-43% in mushrooms cell walls, 8-27% in mold cell walls and 1-3% in yeast cell walls [33]. Whereas crustacean exoskeletons are not usually employed by the food industry and are considered waste [35], and chitin from fungi is also often extracted from residues [36], chitin from insects can be ingested together with other nutrients because they are usually consumed as whole insects or parts of whole edible insects including ingredients derived from them such as meals/flours [4].…”

Chitosan Extraction from Goliathus orientalis Moser, 1909: Characterization and Comparison with Commercially Available Chitosan

“…Chitin is a major constituent of the Arthropoda's shield as well as the cell wall of fungi. Furthermore, chitin is produced on a massive scale from the waste associated with processing of seafood products such as crab and shrimp [1][2][3][4][5]. Chemically speaking, chitin can be described as a linear polymer (polysaccharide) of β-1,4 linked N-acetylglucosamine, and different sub-types of chitin are described in the literature, including α, β and γ.…”