Assessment of molecular diversity in Lithuanian impatiens parviflora dc. according to amplified fragment length polymorphism markers

Abstract

Chitin is a biopolymer found in crustaceans, also from aquatic environment. The aim of the study was to determine the chitin content and physicochemical properties of this biopolymer extracted from alien gammarid Dikerogammarus haemobaphes (Eichwald, 1841). This species of Ponto-Caspian origin is now widely distributed in many European fresh and brackish waters. The dry weight chitin content of this species was determined. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) were used to characterize physicochemical properties of obtained chitin. As expected, FT-IR results showed that the isolated chitin was in a form. According to our results the extracted chitin was thermally stable and potentially can have application in many industrial processes. As biological invasions are one of the major problems worldwide, our study show potential solution to use of invaders in human industry.