Chitin nanocomposites aided drug delivery: Chitin less explored than chitosan?

Abstract Chitin is a valuable bioresource, a sustainable biomaterial that is obtained from marine shell wastes. Chitin has been utilized in various diverse applications, cutting edges across human, societal, and environmental benefits. From chitin, numerous other derivatives have been derived, extrapolating the utility of this sustainable material. Voluminous research publications exist concerning chitosan and its derivatives, but very few are available that exclusively deal with chitin and its applications. Chitin nanocomposites helped overcome the inherent limitations of chitin, predominantly its bioavailability. The present review specifically reviews the contributions of chitin nanocomposites/metal nanocomposites for biomedical applications. With chitosan and the other derivatives being projected predominantly for drug delivery applications, this review presents a streamlined targeted survey on the milestones achieved by chitin nanocomposites and metal nanocomposites. A comparison between chitin and chitosan metal nanocomposites in drug delivery applications has also been presented and inferences discussed. The dearth in availability of prominent research studies for chitin nanocomposites as well as their corresponding metal nanocomposites, has been highlighted. The fact that the potential of chitin, nanoforms, and nano‐metal composites are being undermined, because of inadequate research evidence, which has led to preliminary conclusions, has also been discussed.