Chitin Derivatives as Functional Foods

Chitin and chitosan are biocompatible, biodegradable, and nontoxic and act as antimicrobial and hydrating agents (Jayakumar et al., 2010, 2011). Chitosan and its derivatives, including N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (GlcNAc), chitin oligosaccharide (NACOS), glucosamine (GlcN), and chitosan oligosaccharide (COS), are used as functional foods because evidence indicates that oral intake of these compounds produces benecial health effects (De Silva et al., 2011; Je and Kim, 2012a,b; Reginster et al., 2012).