chitin
Pronunciation Noun

chitin

  1. (carbohydrate) A complex polysaccharide, a polymer of N-acetylglucosamine, found in the exoskeletons of arthropods and in the cell walls of fungi; thought to be responsible for some forms of asthma in humans.
    • 1880, Arthur Gamgee, ''A Text-book of the Physiological Chemistry of the Animal Body ↗, Macmillan, p. 299
      Chitin usually occurs throughout Invertebrates in the form of an investment to the outermost cellular layer or ectoderm.
    • 2004, New Scientist, 11 Sep 2004, p.19
      The robot’s energy source is the sugar in the polysaccharide called chitin that makes up a fly’s exoskeleton.
Translations
  • French: chitine
  • German: Chitin
  • Italian: chitina
  • Portuguese: quitina
  • Russian: хити́н
  • Spanish: quitina



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