Studies on Chitin and Glucosamine. (III). : Degradation of Chitin and Its Related Derivatives by Snail Enzyme.

Abstract

Enzymatic degradation of chitin and its derivatives was attempted by means of snail digestive fluid and its acetone-dried powder, which was made from snail gastrointestine and liver. N-acetylglucosamine could be detected by paper chromatography in the degradation process of purified chitin, colloidal chitin, regenerated chitin, acetylated chitosan, carboxymethylchitin or glycolchitin. Glucosamine could be also characterized from degradation product of chiosan by the conversion to arabinose and N-acetylglucosamine. To investigate the above degradation process, viscosity reduction of water-soluble chitin derivatives were measured, and production of N-acethylglucosamine or glucosamine was determined by colorimetric method. In case of carboxymethylchitin and glycolchitin, the hexosamine was produced remarkably by the degradation and viscosity reduced distinctly, but in case of chitosan the yield of glucosamine was small.