Vol. 10, Special Issue 7 (2021)

Author(s):
Hauzoukim, Sagarika Swain, Subal Kumar Ghosh and Anwesha Roy

Abstract:
Chitosan is a chitin-derived biopolymer, one of the most abundant and renewable materials on earth. Chitin is a primary component of fungal cell walls, arthropod exoskeletons such as crustaceans, e.g. crabs, lobsters and shrimp and insects, molluscan radulae, cephalopod beaks, fish and lissamphibian scales. Due to its unique macromolecular structure, biocompatibility, biodegradability and other intrinsic functional properties, chitosan has attracted significant scientific and industrial interests since the late 1970s. The practical applications of chitosan and derivatives are in the food, agriculture, aquaculture, pharmacy, medicine, cosmetology, textile, and paper industries. In reality, nutraceuticals and cosmeceuticals are growing markets, and the next markets in the production of chitosan should be therapeutic and biomedical products. The goal of numerous fundamental studies is also chitosan. A number of works on chitosan applications published over the past two decades are highlighted in this study.