This page assumes a relatively high familiarity on the part of the reader with the scientific terminology appropriate to biomedical topics.
Chitin is one of the most abundant polysaccharides found in nature.
It is often considered a cellulose derivative, although it does not occur in organisms producing cellulose. The difference between cellulose and chitosan is that the 2-hydroxy group of the cellulose has been replaced with an acetamide group. Chitosan is a useful derivative of chitin. It is formed through N-deacylation of the chitin molecule. In many papers, chitin and chitosan are used almost interchangeably.