Antimicrobial properties of chitosan and mode of action: A state of the art review

Chitosan based edible films and coatings: A review

Chitin, the second most important natural polymer in the world, and its N-deacetylated derivative chitosan, have been identified as versatile biopolymers for a broad range of applications in medicine, agriculture and the food industry. Two of the main reasons for this are firstly the unique chemical, physicochemical and biological properties of chitin and chitosan, and secondly the unlimited supply of raw materials for their production. These polymers exhibit widely differing physicochemical properties depending on the chitin source and the conditions of chitosan production. The presence of reactive functional groups as well as the polysaccharide nature of these biopolymers enables them to undergo diverse chemical modifications. A complete chemical and physicochemical characterization of chitin, chitosan and their derivatives is not possible without using spectroscopic techniques. This review focuses on the application of spectroscopic methods for the structural analysis of these compounds.

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Application of Spectroscopic Methods for Structural Analysis of Chitin and Chitosan

Polysaccharide-based films and coatings for food packaging: A review

Background Food processing produces large quantities of by-products. Disposal of waste can lead to environmental and human health problems, yet often they can be turned into high value, useful products. For example, crustacean shell wastes from shrimp, crab, lobster, and krill contain large amounts of chitin, a polysaccharide that may be extracted after deproteinisation and demineralization of the exoskeletons. Scope and approach This review summarizes the current state of knowledge of these crustacean shellfish wastes and the various ways to use chitin. This biopolymer and its derivatives, such as chitosan, have many biological activities (e.g., anti-cancer, antioxidant, and immune-enhancing) and can be used in various applications (e.g., medical, cosmetic, food, and textile). Key findings and conclusions Due to the huge waste produced each year by the shellfish processing industry and the absence of waste management which represent an environmental hazard, the extraction of chitin from crustaceans’ shells may be a solution to minimize the waste and to produce valuable compound which possess biological properties with application in many fields. As a food waste, it is important to also be aware of the non-food uses of these wastes.

Industrial applications of crustacean by-products (chitin, chitosan, and chitooligosaccharides): A review

Extraction and characterization of chitin and chitosan from local sources.

Surface modification of polypropylene films by chitosan and chitosan/pectin multilayer

Nonwoven polypropylene and cotton fabrics were subjected to plasma pretreatment followed by flash evaporation and radiation crosslinking acrylate polymer coating, which is based on a vacuum deposition, solvent free, process that produces high quality, uniform fabrics with various thicknesses (0.05–5.0 μm). These treated fabrics were then dipped into chitosan, carboxymethyl chitosan, and carboxymethyl chitin solution. These polysaccharides form strong complexes with the modified surface. The antimicrobial activity of these treated samples was then evaluated for their antifungal and antibacterial properties. The antifungal activity for Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici, Verticillium albo-atrum, and Alternaria solani (A. alternata) were examined by the disc plate method. The antibacterial activities of the modified fabrics against Clavibacter michiganensisand Pseudomonas solanacearum were also examined by the viable cell counting method. The inhibition zone of the chitosan covered samples has increased by a factor of 2–3.1 over the original pretreated samples. The chitosan-modified fabrics showed a good antibacterial activity in killing almost 105 cells/mL within 18–23 h. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008

Improved antimicrobial activity of polypropylene and cotton nonwoven fabrics by surface treatment and modification with chitosan

Chitin is a naturally abundant polysaccharide and the supporting material of crustaceans (such as crabs, shrimps and cuttlefish), insects, and fungi. Chitin is the second most abundant natural polymer after cellulose and estimated to be produced annually almost as much as 10 billion tons. It is a highly insoluble material resembling cellulose in its solubility and low chemical reactivity.Chitosan is the modified N-deacetylated derivative of chitin. Recently, much attention has been paid to chitosan as a potential polysaccharide resource. It has become of great interest since it is inexhaustible, and also as a new functional material of high potential in various fields and recent progress in chitin and chitosan chemistry is quite noteworthy. Chitosan is obtained by deacetylation of chitin using strong alkali solutions. Both polymers are biodegradable, biocompatible and have many biological, biomedical, agriculture and technical applications.The potential applications of chitosan and chitin can be extremely enlarged by conducting chemical modifications using the OH and the NH2 groups. Examples of these modifications are acylation, alkylation, carboxymethylation and grafting.

Entsar S. Abdou

Papers

Chitosan based edible films and coatings: A review

Extraction and characterization of chitin and chitosan from local sources.

Surface modification of polypropylene films by chitosan and chitosan/pectin multilayer

Improved antimicrobial activity of polypropylene and cotton nonwoven fabrics by surface treatment and modification with chitosan

The Amazing Materials Chitin and Chitosan