Patent ID: 11958918
Assignee: YNSECT
Field: Macromolecular chemistry, polymers (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC C | IPC C

Claim 4:
5. A method for obtaining chitin, from insects, comprising the following steps in the following order:
(i) killing of the insects,
(ii) separating cuticles from a soft part of each insect,
(iii) enzymatically hydrolyzing the cuticles with a protease to obtain a solid residue,
(iv) treating the solid residue obtained at step (iii) with a base for a duration between 5 and 60 hours with an aqueous basic solution, wherein the molar concentration of the base in aqueous solution is between 0.1 and 5 mol·L−1, and
(v) recovering the chitin from step (iv),
wherein the insects are coleopterans and/or lepidopterans, and
wherein the protease is selected from the group consisting of aminopeptidases, metallocarboxypeptidases, serine endopeptidases, cysteine endopeptidases, aspartic endopeptidases, and metalloendopeptidases.