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© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Chitosan, a copolymer of glucosamine and N-acetyl glucosamine, is derived from chitin. Chitin is found in cell walls of crustaceans, fungi, insects and in some algae, microorganisms, and some invertebrate animals. Chitosan is emerging as a very important raw material for the synthesis of a wide range of products used for food, medical, pharmaceutical, health care, agriculture, industry, and environmental pollution protection. This review, in line with the focus of this special issue, provides the reader with (1) an overview on different sources of chitin, (2) advances in techniques used to extract chitin and converting it into chitosan, (3) the importance of the inherent characteristics of the chitosan from different sources that makes them suitable for specific applications and, finally, (4) briefly summarizes ways of tailoring chitosan for specific applications. The review also presents the influence of the degree of acetylation (DA) and degree of deacetylation (DDA), molecular weight (Mw) on the physicochemical and biological properties of chitosan, acid-base behavior, biodegradability, solubility, reactivity, among many other properties that determine processability and suitability for specific applications. This is intended to help guide researchers select the right chitosan raw material for their specific applications.

Details

Title
Chitosan: Sources, Processing and Modification Techniques
Author
Pellis, Alessandro 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Guebitz, Georg M 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Gibson, Stephen Nyanhongo 3 

 Department of Chemistry and Industrial Chemistry, University of Genova, Via Dodecaneso 31, 16146 Genova, Italy; [email protected] 
 Department of Agrobiotechnology, IFA-Tulln, Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, University of Natural Ressources and Life Sciences, 1180 Vienna, Austria; [email protected] 
 Department of Agrobiotechnology, IFA-Tulln, Institute of Environmental Biotechnology, University of Natural Ressources and Life Sciences, 1180 Vienna, Austria; [email protected]; Department of Biotechnology and Food Technology, Faculty of Science, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg P.O. Box 17011, South Africa 
First page
393
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
23102861
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2693970671
Copyright
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.