Green Preparation of Chitin and Nanochitin from Black Soldier Fly for Production of Biodegradable Packaging Material

Black Soldier Fly (BSF) is a novel option to convert organic waste into high economic products such as protein, lipid, and chitin. Due to the drawbacks of petrochemical-based plastic, the biodegradable film has attracted much attention; among these, chitin-based packaging film is a promising material. This study extracted the chitin from BSF using a co-solvent of glycerol and hydrochloric acid (HCl). The chitin nanofiber has a dimension of 34 nm in width and 494 in length following Transmission Electron Microscopy analysis (TEM). Besides, the obtained chitin was also added to the gelatin-based film for packaging application. The chitin/gelation packaging was evaluated for its suitability in food application by testing its antioxidant activity, thickness, grammage, opacity, moisture, and water solubility. The film developed with more than 0.5 wt.% chitin and nanochitin showed high antioxidant activity, while adding chitin does not significantly change the thermal stability of the gelatin films. The chemical structure of chitin and bio-packaging was determined by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA). This study provides a green and facile approach for chitin production from BSF by using co-solvent and reveals the potential of insect chitin in creating active bio-packaging. Graphical Abstract