Determination of Chitin Based on the Colorimetric Assay of Glucosamine in Acidic Hydrolysate

Abstract

A colorimetric method for the glucosamine (GlcN) assay was applied for the determination of chitin, which can be hydrolyzed to produce GlcN. A 10-mg sample was mixed with 10 mL of a 5 mol/L HCl aqueous solution, and the mixture was kept at 100°C for 12 h. Under these conditions, chitin was completely depolymerized and deacetylated to produce GlcN, even when the sample was a crab shell. A 20-μL aliquot of the hydrolysate was mixed with 20 μL of a 5 mol/L NaOH aqueous solution and 200 μL of a 50 mmol/L Na₂SiO₃, 600 mmol/L Na₂MoO₄, 1.5 mol/L CH₃COOH and 30% (v/v) dimethyl sulfoxide solution. The mixture was kept at 70°C for 30 min. In the mixture, GlcN reduced the Mo(VI) species to form a blue molybdosilicate anion, which gave an absorbance maximum at around 750 nm. Since N-acetylglucosamine and chitin oligosaccharides could not render the reaction mixture blue, GlcN in the hydrolysate could be assayed colorimetrically with high selectivity. When a standard chitin sample was examined, the GlcN concentration in the hydrolysate was determined to be 0.97 ± 0.02 g/L (as hydrochloride salt), indicating that the sample contained 10.0 ± 0.2 mg chitin (as an N-acetylglucosamine homopolymer). Calcium cation, amino acids, and proteins did not interfere with the GlcN assay. Thus, the proposed method was successfully applied to determine chitin in a crab shell sample.