Chitin is the second most prevalent polymer on the face of the earth. Cellulose is the first. If chitin is ground into a fine powder, the consistency of talcum powder, it can induce soil bacteria or fermentor-grown bacteria to secrete large amounts of chitinase enzymes. These enzymes are a natural biopesticide. The secret to this process concerns the processing of chitin waste.
Chitin is a flexible polymer and it is difficult to fragment.
These particles are approximately the size of the bacteria that are intended to degrade them. If the particle is too big, the bacteria cannot rapidly metabolize the chitin. A useful analogy is of an ant trying to digest a basketball. The ant may succeed, but the process is going to take too long and the chitinase enzyme secretion rate is going to be too slow for the chitin particles to be useful as a biopesticide feedstock. The chitin powder produced by the Partner's technology can be applied directly to the soil or it can be freeze-dried after being degraded in a fermentor by certain strains of bacteria.