Chitosan: Knowing The History

Chitosan (pronounced Kite-O-San) has long been considered as the “fat magnet”. Researches have it that it is simply a fat inhibitor which appears to work miracles for those in search of a safe way to lose that body fat.

The chitosan is actually a substance taken from chitin, a polysaccharide found in the exoskeletons of crustaceans. It is processed by removing the shells from the shellfish like lobster, shrimps and crabs. How and when chitosan was discovered is the main subject to be tackled here. Let’s consider the following details.

The origin of chitosan can be traced back to 1811 when “chitin”, from which it is derived, was first discovered by Braconnot, a then professor of the natural history in France. According to some researches, while Braconnot was conducting research on mushrooms, he isolated what was later to be called chitin.

Some 20 years later, there was a man who authored an article on insects in which he noted that similar substance was present in the structure of insects as well as the structure of plants. He then called this amazing substance as “chitin”. Basically, the name chitin is derived from Greek, meaning “tunic” or “envelope”. The concept was further known in 1843 when Lassaigne demonstrated the presence of nitrogen in chitin.

After the discovery of chitin, the name “chitosan” emerged in the scene. It was first discovered by Rouget while experimenting with chitin. Accordingly, Rouget observed that the compound of chitin could be manipulated through chemical and temperature treatments for it to become soluble. Then, it was in 1878 when Ledderhose identified chitin to be made of glucosamine and acetic acid. It was not actually until 1894 that Hoppe-Seyler named the tailored chitin, chitosan.

By the early 20th century, several researches took chitosan as their subject of study. They then involved sources of chitin, including crab shells and fungi. It was the work of Rammelberg in the 1930s that led to the confirmation on the identity of chitosan from these sources. It was also noted that by hydrolyzing chitin in a number of ways, it was determined by experts that chitin is a polysaccharide of glucosamine.

1950s arrived and the use of x-ray analysis had advanced the study of the occurrence of chitin or chitosan in fungi. However, it is only the most advanced technologies that proved the most reliable in identifying the presence of chitin as well as cellulose in the cell walls. The first book on chitosan was published 140 years after the initial observation of Braconnot, and that was in 1951.

In the early 1960s, chitosan was investigated for its ability to bind with the red blood cells. That time also, the substance was considered as a hemostatic agent. Then, for the past three decades, chitosan has been used at water purification plants for detoxifying water. It is spread over the surface where it absorbs greases, oils, and other potential toxins.

Today, it is known as a dietary supplement that is good for weight loss. In fact, it has been marketed for such purpose for about 20 years in Japan as well as in Europe. Many people even call it as the “fat blocker”.