ABSTRACT
The antifungal activity of aminated chitosan against three different fungal species Aspergillus Niger, Alternaria Alternata, and Fusarium Moniliforme was measured and evaluated. Aminated chitosan was produced by chemically amination of chitosan via introducing further amino groups to the back bone of chitin using para-benzoquinone (pBQ) as activation agent and ethylenediamine (EDA) as amino group source. The aminated chitin was further deacetylated to obtain finally chemically modified chitosan with higher content of amine groups. The success of grafting process has been confirmed using fourier transform infrared (FTIR), thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). It was found that the antifungal activity of the modified chitosan is better than the native one, and increases by increasing external amine groups against given fungal species. Modification improves solubility of polymer along different acidic pH but still unsoluble in neutral and alkaline pH.
