Edible insect larvae as sustainable sources of chitosan: Influence of species and drying method on functional and structural properties

Abstract Chitosan—a biopolymer produced by the deacetylation of chitin—finds numerous applications and is primarily obtained from the byproducts of marine crustacean processing. Given that this production method has numerous limitations, edible insects have drawn considerable attention as an alternative chitosan source. Herein, chitosan was extracted from the larvae of Protaetia brevitarsis, Allomyrina dichotoma, and Tenebrio molitor subjected to hot-air drying and freeze-drying, and its physicochemical and functional properties were compared with those of commercial shrimp-derived chitosan. Insect species and drying pretreatment influenced chitosan properties. Chitosan from hot-air-dried A. dichotoma showed the highest antioxidant activity, while that from T. molitor exhibited physicochemical and structural features comparable with those of shrimp-derived chitosan. In contrast, chitosan from hot-air-dried P. brevitarsis demonstrated a reduced solubility and deacetylation degree. These findings indicate that species- and process-dependent variations strongly affect functional performance and A. dichotoma and T. molitor are promising alternative chitosan sources.