Chitin itself is very stable and soluble in weak acids. For example, acetic acid, lactic acid, citric acid, and glutamic acid are often used in industrial processes to dissolve chitin, and its solubility is proportional to the acid concentration. In the case of acetic acid, 10 g/L of chitin is dissolved in 1% acetic acid. Once dissolved, it can be further diluted with water. The degree of deacetylation of chitin also affects its ability to form a film. For those with higher degree of deacetylation, the film is easier to form after drying in an aqueous solution. It is used for film formation on the surface of meat and meat products, that is, it has antiseptic effect.
Anti-mildew preservation: Ham with chitin is the main example of Japanese pill ham. The addition of chitin to the production process is about 200mg/kg, which can inhibit the growth of bad mold. Chitin-containing pickles: Japan's Asahi Chemical, Asama Chemical and its downstream manufacturers use chitin as a preservative to provide pickles to reduce salt use. The process requires the use of chitin with low viscosity and high degree of deacetylation. The process is as follows: soaking raw sashimi for preservation: 98% DAC chitin solution, 1% acetic acid solution, soaking for 3 hours at the final concentration of 50-200 mg/kg. It can reduce the number of bacteria and increase the life of the product by 24 to 36 hours. However, there are also process descriptions. If the operation is also performed by soaking, the concentration of chitin should be increased as much as possible so that the dosage after soaking can have sufficient antibacterial and moisturizing ability. However, since the viscosity is also increased when the concentration is too high, the viscosity must be lowered in a special manner, but the effect of coagulation and film formation is not lost.
Chitin has antiseptic effect
