Chitin is a polysaccharide found in the shells of crustaceans such as crabs and shrimp, as well as the skeletons and shells of squid and shellfish, the epidermis and digestive tracts of insects, and the cell walls of mold, mushrooms, and microorganisms. Chitosan is obtained by removing the acetyl group from chitin. Chitin and chitosan are collectively called chitin. Chitin circulates around the earth through biosynthesis and biodegradation in the soil, hydrosphere, and biosphere, and it has been discovered that it is deeply involved in the conservation of ecosystems.

Chitin is an aminopolysaccharide consisting of linked sugar units called N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, while chitosan is an aminopolysaccharide consisting of linked D-glucosamine units that have had the acetyl group removed from chitin.

Chitosan is the only natural polysaccharide (dietary fiber) that has positive ions, and in recent years has become a highly functional and unique material that has been effectively used in fields such as medicine, cosmetics, food, agriculture, and livestock farming. Chitin is insoluble in water, but chitosan is soluble in dilute acid, so it can be made water-soluble, and its use in the agricultural field is expanding.

Chitin and chitosan are substances that plants mistake for foreign enemies and activate the plant's immune system. Therefore, spraying them regularly from a healthy age can help prevent plants from getting sick and promote healthy growth.

>>More details: When chitosan is given to plants, it promotes the production of antibacterial substances such as the lytic enzyme chitinase and phytoalexin, which enhances their resistance to pathogens (plant immunity) and activates their biological defense mechanisms, making them less susceptible to infection with disease, preventing the disease from spreading if they do become infected, or even helping to cure the disease.

Chitin and chitosan are essential substances for plant growth in nature. Plants naturally increase their immunity (resistance) through contact with insects and microorganisms, including their enemies. Plants do not distinguish between pathogenic and non-pathogenic substances. Plants have chitin receptors as sensors that recognize specific substances contained in the cuticles of insects and cell walls of microorganisms that they come into contact with, and distinguish between safe and dangerous.

>>More details:

Plants can recognize chitin.

In fact, plants increase production of the lytic enzyme chitinase in response to pathogenic and non-pathogenic Fusarium, as well as chitosan, making it clear that plants recognize chitin and not its pathogenicity.

It activates the plant's inherent self-defense mechanism (plant immunity), activating lytic enzymes (chitinase, glucanase), plant hormones (ethylene with bactericidal properties), antibacterial substances (phytoalexins), etc., making the plant less susceptible to disease.

However, if contact with chitin and chitosan is lost, various activities will decrease, so regular contact (spraying) will be necessary.

Chitin is abundant on Earth as a biomass second only to cellulose, and is circulated throughout the world. Chitin also exists in large quantities in the environment in which plants grow, as a component of insects and microorganisms.

However, due to the extensive use of chemical fertilizers (inorganic substances) and synthetic pesticides (sterilization, insecticide) in modern agriculture, the number of insects and microorganisms in the plant's growing environment has drastically decreased, which has resulted in a sharp decline in contact with chitin, and it is thought that this has led to a decline in the plant's immunity (resistance), as it is unable to develop its natural strength.

Applying chitin and chitosan to soil improves the soil environment by improving the microbial flora and soil aggregate formation. Actinomycetes and bacillus prefer to feed on chitin, including chitosan, due to the chitinase enzyme, and feed on pathogenic filamentous fungi such as Fusarium, which have chitin in their cell walls. Therefore, applying chitosan to soil increases the number of actinomycetes and bacillus that are beneficial to plants, and has the effect of suppressing pathogenic filamentous fungi such as Fusarium.

> Application of chitin and chitosan → Growth of chitin-decomposing bacteria → Suppression of pathogenic fungi

Because chitosan undergoes protein removal during the manufacturing process, it contains almost no proteins that cause allergies, and is said to have very low antigenicity.

Chitosan specific raw material labeling

Chitosan is made from crab, and glucosamine is made from crab and shrimp, so it is mandatory to indicate that they are derived from shrimp or crab as specific ingredients.

Cause of shellfish allergy: tropomyosin

The allergen (antigen) that causes allergies to shrimp and crab is a protein called tropomyosin. Tropomyosin is found in large amounts in the edible flesh of shrimp and in relatively small amounts in the shell. According to a report by the Fukuoka City Institute of Health and Environment, crab shells contain about 1/40 of the flesh, and shrimp shells contain about 1/5 of the flesh.

Chitin and chitosan are amino sugar polysaccharides that do not contain protein.

In the manufacturing process of chitosan and glucosamine, calcium and protein are removed from crab shells to the maximum extent possible to extract chitin, which is then processed into chitosan and glucosamine, so there is almost no protein remaining. Chitin is a polymer of N-acetylglucosamine (an amino sugar), and chitosan is a polymer of glucosamine (an amino sugar), and both are classified as dietary fiber. In other words, pure chitin and chitosan are dietary fiber with sugars linked together, so they do not contain protein. Since allergens are derived from proteins, pure chitin and chitosan do not contain allergens, and highly pure chitin and chitosan contain almost no allergens.

Chitosan Protein Content

The chitosan we use has a result of 0.02 ppm in allergen content tests. Also, when it is broken down into glucosamine, tropomyosin is at an undetectable level. Now, let's compare the tropomyosin content of 0.02 ppm in chitosan with other foods.

Tropomyosin is also found in fish sausages and salted fish, at levels of 1 ppm or more.

It is common for marine organisms to eat crustaceans in the food chain and have them remain in the stomach and other digestive tracts. Tropomyosin has been reported to be detected at 1.0-9.6 ppm in fish sausages, chikuwa, and kamaboko, which are made by removing only the head of a fish and making it into a paste. Octopus and squid also like shrimp and crab, so if the innards are also processed, 1.5 ppm can be detected in salted octopus. Several dozen ppm can be detected in whitebait and small shrimp, and even seaweed can be detected at around 8-15 ppm. Source: Maruha Nichiro materials. Incidentally, according to a report by the Fukuoka City Institute of Health and Environment, shrimp meat contains tropomyosin at a level of 7,500 ppm, and crab meat at 34,000 ppm.

Even compared to the possibility of ingesting crustaceans due to contamination (trace amounts) during the manufacturing process, the tropomyosin content of chitosan, at around 0.02 ppm, is considered to be extremely low. The Chitin Chitosan Handbook, edited by the Chitin Chitosan Research Group, currently the Japanese Society of Chitin and Chitosan, also states that chitosan has "very low antigenicity, and oral administration and tissue embedding tests have shown that it is virtually non-toxic and safe for use as a food ingredient."

Although we understand that symptoms vary from person to person, we hope that you will find this information useful.

Psychological effects can also have an impact, but we think one way to confirm this is to actually do a patch test, such as applying a 10-fold diluted solution of Chitofresh or Land Green PRO to the inside of your upper arm and observing the reaction after 10 minutes.