Investigation on Akis granulifera (Coleoptera, Sahlberg, 1823) as a potential source of chitin and chitosan: Extraction, characterization and hydrogel formation.

The majority of studies have focused on the industrial exploitation of marine fisheries waste through the production of natural bioactive bioploymeres such as chitin and chitosan. However, in recent years, beetles are increasingly attracting the interest of scientists as a source of chitin and chitosan for the preparation of hydrogels for sustainable engineering development. In the present work, we focus on the study for the first time a new Moroccan species of beetle (Akis granulifera Sahlberg, 1823), for the extraction of chitin and the elaboration of chitosan. A chemical extraction process was used. Then, physicochemical characterizations by FT-IR, SEM, XRD, H NMR, TGA/DSC, Potentiometry, Viscosimetry, and elemental analysis were performed. In addition, to evaluate its physicochemical quality, the elaborated chitosan is combined with alginate to form a hydrogel. This hydrogel was effectively characterized by SEM, DRX and FTIR to show the potential of chitosan from Akis granulifera in biomaterial applications.