Chitin, and especially its deacetylated variant chitosan, has many applications, e.g. as carrier material for pharmaceutical drugs or as a flocculant in wastewater treatment. Despite its versatility and accessibility, chitin, the second most abundant polysaccharide on Earth, has so far been commercially extracted only from crustaceans and to a minor extent from fungi. Insects are a viable alternative source of chitin, but they have not been exploited in the past due to limited availability. Today however, for the sustainable production of animal feed, insect farming is being developed substantially. The availability of large quantities of insect biomass and chitin‐rich side products such as exuviae and exoskeletons has been increasing. This review provides an overview of recently published studies of chitin extraction from insects, its subsequent conversion into chitosan and the primary analytical methods used to characterize insect‐based chitin and chitosan. We have discovered a large number of research articles published over the past 20 years, confirming the increased attention being received by chitin and chitosan production from insects. Despite numerous publications, we identified several knowledge gaps, such as a lack of data concerning chitin purification degree and chitosan yield. Furthermore, analytical methods used to obtain physicochemical characteristics, structural information and chemical composition meet basic qualitative requirements but do not satisfy the need for a more quantitative evaluation. Despite the current shortcomings that need to be overcome, this review presents encouraging data on the use of insects as an alternative source of chitin and chitosan in the future. © 2020 The Authors. Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).

中文翻译：

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昆虫从甲壳素纯化和壳聚糖生产的现状

几丁质，尤其是其脱乙酰化的壳聚糖，具有许多应用，例如作为药物的载体材料或废水处理中的絮凝剂。尽管几丁质具有通用性和可及性，但迄今为止，它仅是商业上从甲壳类动物中提取的，而在很小的程度上是从真菌中提取的。昆虫是甲壳素的可行替代来源，但由于可用性有限，过去并未对其进行开发。然而，今天，为了可持续生产动物饲料，昆虫的养殖已得到实质性发展。大量昆虫生物量和富含甲壳素的副产品（如Exuviae和Exoskeletons）的供应量正在增加。这篇评论概述了最近从昆虫中提取甲壳质的研究，随后转化为壳聚糖，以及用于表征昆虫基甲壳质和壳聚糖的主要分析方法。我们发现了过去20年中发表的大量研究文章，证实了昆虫的甲壳素和壳聚糖生产受到越来越多的关注。尽管有许多出版物，我们还是发现了一些知识空白，例如缺乏有关几丁质纯化程度和壳聚糖产量的数据。此外，用于获得理化特性，结构信息和化学组成的分析方法满足基本的定性要求，但不满足进行更定量评估的需要。尽管目前需要克服一些缺点，这篇综述提供了令人鼓舞的数据，说明未来将昆虫用作甲壳素和壳聚糖的替代来源。©2020作者。John Wiley＆Sons Ltd代表化学工业协会（SCI）出版的《化学技术和生物技术杂志》。