STUDY ON THE EXTRACTION OF CHITIN FROM PUPAE SHELL OF DENDROLIMUS PUNCTATUS WALKER

Dendrolimus punctatus Walker is one of the most serious forest pests,however,it is also a potential bioresource for human. The extraction of chitin from pupae shell of D. punctatus was studied. The results showed that the optimal conditions were as the follows: HCl concentration was 5 %,treatment temperature was 28 ℃,treatment time was 20 h; NaOH concentration was 6 %,treatment temperature was 70 ℃,treatment time was 10 h; H2O2 concentration was 11 %,treatment temperature was 85 ℃,and treatment time was 2.5 h. The obtained chitin under the optimal conditions was white sheet solid,its water content was 8.23 %,ash content was 0.99 % and nitrogen content was 6.84 %. The quality of the chitin reached the quality requirement of standard for edible chitin.