Sustainable extraction of chitin from spent pupal shell of black soldier fly

Chitin and its deacetylated derivative chitosan are used for application in areas as an agriculture, biomedicine, cosmetic, food, textile and chelating agent for wastewater treatment. The current extraction of chitin is based on a chemical process using hydrochloric acid and sodium hydroxide. The main disadvantage of the process is the generation of large volumes of acid and alkaline effluents, which require further treatment before release. Chitin was extracted from spent pupal shell of black soldier fly (BSF) by the microbial fermentation method using Bacillus lichenformis A6. The recovery rate of chitin content by the microbial fermentation method was found to be about 12.4%. The structures of BSF chitin and chitosan were further characterized by FTIR, XRD, and SEM. Our results showed that the chitin obtained from BSF was observed in α form. The crystalline index values of chitin and chitosan are 52.8% and 55.4%, respectively. The surface morphology was examined by SEM, revealing nanofiber structures. The spent pupal shell of BSF may be used as alternative chitin sources for various technological purposes.