Chitin is a long-chain natural polysaccharide built from repeating units of N-acetylglucosamine, and it is one of the most abundant structural biopolymers in nature. It forms the principal component of the cell walls of fungi and the exoskeletons of insects, crustaceans, and other arthropods, providing rigidity and …
Chitin is a long-chain natural polysaccharide built from repeating units of N-acetylglucosamine, and it is one of the most abundant structural biopolymers in nature. It forms the principal component of the cell walls of fungi and the exoskeletons of insects, crustaceans, and other arthropods, providing rigidity and protection. Chitin and its deacetylated derivative chitosan are of considerable interest because of their biodegradability and biocompatibility, with applications spanning biomedicine, food, agriculture, water treatment, and materials science. Enzymes called chitinases break down chitin, and these Enzymes are important in biological processes and in many biotechnological uses. The Journal of Enzymes publishes peer-reviewed research on Enzymes and the biomolecules they act upon. Reported work includes a study of chitin and chitinases and the biomedical and environmental applications of chitin and its derivatives, and an examination of insect-based foods, which are a notable source of chitin. Related research on the lysozyme-induced degradation of chitosan and the characterisation of degraded chitosan scaffolds illustrates how chitin-derived materials are processed enzymatically. This page gathers peer-reviewed, open-access research relevant to chitin, chitinases, and the applications of chitin-based biopolymers.
3 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
The 3 articles above have been cited 347 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Chitin, linking to each citing work.