Search

Chitin is the most abundant biopolymer group after cellulose and forms the exoskeleton of arthropods, the largest animal group. The morphology of chitin differs between and within species. In this study, we determined the physicochemical and biological activity of chitin samples obtained from different body parts of the boxwood moth Cydalima perspectalis for its application as a biotechnological material. The collected chitin samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and elemental analysis. FTIR confirms that the isolation of chitin is successful. The SEM results showed that the surface morphology of the obtained chitins was both fibrous and porous and had a rough surface. As a result of the elemental analysis, the %N values of chitins were calculated as 6.60 on average, and the values were shown to be close to each other. We also investigated the biocompatibility and antimicrobial properties of these chitin samples. We used L929 (mouse fibroblast) cells to perform indirect cytotoxicity experiments and investigated their viability by performing the MTT assay. Our findings showed that the samples had no cytotoxic effect on the L929 cells at 24, 48, and 72 h. The cytotoxic study showed that Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, and Candida albican fungi adhered to chitin surfaces regarding biofilm production. The chitin contents were determined as 21.02% for the head, 5.74% for the body, 32.22% for the wing, 33.53% for the legs, and 2.65% for the pupal shell. Chitin is a material with high potential for use in various fields. Our findings suggested that Cydalima perspectalis can be used as an alternative source of chitin in biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the effects of different concentrations of carbohydrates on the phenoloxidase activity (PO) and development of Ephestia kuehniella larvae were investigated. For this purpose, 10 artificial diets-containing different carbonhydrates (sucrose or arabinose) were prepared. According to results, development and immunity are related to each other. A negative correlation was determined between the pupa mass, the amount of pupal lipid and the amount of pupal crude protein, and PO activity for all carbohydrate types. One of the remarkable results of the study is that the larvae fed on the 5A:P diet failed to reach the pupal stage. Diets-containing arabinose apart from 1A:P diet were consumed less than sucrose-containing diets. The PO activities of the larvae differ according to the dietary nutritional imbalance and the type of carbohydrates of diet. Except for 1A:3P and 1A:5P diets, the larvae fed on diets-containing arabinose generally have higher PO activities. The results show that arabinose is toxic to this species or that the carbohydrate is not usable by the larvae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]