ABSTRACT
Chitosan and its derivatives have many interesting properties that make them attractive for a wide variety of applications in many elds such as food [1], cosmetics [2], biomedicine [3], agriculture, and wastewater management. Their antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties make them particularly useful for biomedical applications, such as wound dressings, surgical sutures, and as aids in cataract surgery and periodontal disease treatment. Moreover, researches have shown that chitosan derivatives are nontoxic and nonallergenic; so the body is not likely to reject them as foreign invaders. Chitosan is commercially obtained by deacetylation of chitin, the second most abundant natural biopolymer
on earth after cellulose. Chitin, a major structural component in the exoskeleton of crustaceans, insects, and cell walls of fungi is identi ed as a polymer of Nacetylglucosamine (β-1,4 linked 2-acetamido-d-glucosamine). Therefore, chitosan, the N-deacetylated form of chitin, can be named as a polymer of β-1,4 linked d-glucosamine units (Figure 7.1).
