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countable and uncountable, plural chitins
(biochemistry) 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. quotations examples
Chitin usually occurs throughout Invertebrates in the form of an investment to the outermost cellular layer or ectoderm.
1880, Arthur Gamgee, A Text-book of the Physiological Chemistry of the Animal Body, Macmillan, page 299
The robot’s energy source is the sugar in the polysaccharide called chitin that makes up a fly’s exoskeleton.
2004 September 11, New Scientist, page 19