Harnessing the Potential of Chitosan and Its Derivatives for Enhanced Functionalities in Food Applications

Kexin Yi; Shiyuan Miao; Bixing Yang; Sijie Li; Yujie Lu

doi:10.3390/foods13030439

Harnessing the Potential of Chitosan and Its Derivatives for Enhanced Functionalities in Food Applications

Foods. 2024 Jan 29;13(3):439. doi: 10.3390/foods13030439.

Authors

Kexin Yi^{1

2}, Shiyuan Miao¹, Bixing Yang^{1

2}, Sijie Li^{1

2}, Yujie Lu^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ School of Grain Science and Technology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, China.
² School of Biotechnology, Jiangsu University of Science and Technology, Zhenjiang 212100, China.

Abstract

As one of the most abundant natural polysaccharides that possess good biological activity, chitosan is extracted from chitin. Its application in the food field is being increasingly valued. However, chitosan extraction is difficult, and its poor solubility limits its application. At present, the extraction methods include the acid-base method, new chemical methods, and biological methods. The extraction rates of chitin/chitosan are 4-55%, 13-14%, and 15-28%, respectively. Different chemical modifications have different effects on chitosan, making it applicable in different fields. This article reviews and compares the extraction and chemical modification methods of chitosan, emphasizing the importance of green extraction methods. Finally, the application prospects of chitosan in the food industry are discussed. This will promote the understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of different extraction methods for chitosan as well as the relationship between modification and application, providing valuable insights for the future development of chitosan.

Keywords: application in the food industry; chemical modification; chitosan; extraction method.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (No.2023YFC2604903), Jiangsu Province Higher Education Basic Science (Natural Science) Research General Project (No. 23KJD210002), and the Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (No. KYCX23_3914).