STUDY OF THE QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE CHANGES IN CHITIN AT DIFFERENT STAGES OF RIPENING OF MUSHROOM FRUITING BODIES

Abstract

We investigated the extraction of chitin with various solvents and changes in the amount of chitin and its molecular mass at different stages of maturity in the fruiting bodies of the fungi Laetiporus sulphureus, Tyromyces chioneus, Oudemansiella mucida, Lycoperdon perlatum, and Fomitopsis betulina. We extracted chitin from crushed mushroom fruiting bodies with 25% hydrochloric acid at 0°C. We characterised the molecular weight of reprecipitated purified chitin with a viscosimeter and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The mass of extracted chitin in all studied mushrooms initially increased from youth to maturity, and then decreased after ripening. At the same time, the molecular weight of chitin tended to increase.