Isolation of the chitin-glucan complex from the fruiting bodies of mycothallus

A four-stage procedure for the isolation of the ChGC from the biomass of natural fungi—the honey mushroom ( Armillariella mellea ) and the yellow morel ( Morchella esculenta ), belonging to the classes Basidiomycetes and Ascomycetes, respectively, has been developed. The isolation procedure included deproteinization (2% NaOH + 0.1% sodium stearate, 83–85°C, 2 h), demineralization (1% HCl, 55–60°C, 2 h), depigmentation (5% H 2 O 2 in ammonia (30–35°C, 4 h)), and deglucanization (2% NaOH, 83–85°C, 2 h). The original raw material and the chitin-containing materials were characterized on the basis of results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray analysis, and pyrolytic gas chromatography using crustacean chitin as a reference compound. The content of chitin in the final products was 70% for A. mellea and 50% for M. esculenta . The possibility of obtaining chitin-containing materials with the required properties by selecting the fungal species and treatment conditions (the succession and repetition of certain stages) is demonstrated.