Free radical scavenging activities of differently deacetylated chitosans using an ESR spectrometer

Gallic acid-grafted-chitosan inhibits foodborne pathogens by a membrane damage mechanism

In this study, antimicrobial activity of gallic acid-grafted-chitosans (gallic acid-g-chitosans) against five Gram-positive and five Gram-negative foodborne pathogens was evaluated. The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of gallic acid-g-chitosans ranged from 16 to 64 μg/mL against Gram-positive bacteria and ranged from 128 to 512 μg/mL against Gram-negative bacteria. These activities were higher than those of unmodified chitosan. The bactericidal activity of gallic acid-g-chitosan (I), which showed the highest antimicrobial activity, was evaluated by time-killing assay with multiples of MIC, and it was recognized to depend on its dose. The integrity of cell membrane, outer membrane (OM), inner membrane (IM) permeabilization experiments, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation were conducted for elucidation of the detailed antimicrobial mode of action of gallic acid-g-chitosan. Results showed that treatment of gallic acid-g-chitosan (I) quickly increased the release of intracellular components for both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. In addition, gallic acid-g-chitosan (I) also rapidly increased the 1-N-phenylanphthylamine (NPN) uptake and the release of β-galactosidase via increasing the permeability of OM and IM in E. coli. TEM observation demonstrated that gallic acid-g-chitosan (I) killed the bacteria via disrupting the cell membrane.

Influence of the physico-chemical characteristics of chito-oligosaccharides (COS) on antioxidant activity

Chito-oligosaccharides (COS) are being used as important functional materials for many applications due to their bioactivities. The aim of this research has been to assess the relationship between the physico-chemical characteristics, average molecular weight (Mw), acetylation degree (DA), polymerization degree (DP) and specially sequence composition determined by MALDI-TOF MS and the antioxidant properties of COS. These oligosaccharides were obtained by enzymatic depolymerization with chitosanase and lysozyme using a specific chitosan and its reacetylated product. The COS fraction below 5 kDa obtained from chitosanase depolymerization showed the highest capacity to scavenge DPPH radicals and to reduce Fe(3+). A correlation was found between the relative amount of molecules with a given A/D (acetylated vs deacetylated units) ratio within the COS and their antioxidant activity, which could be used to predict the antioxidant behavior of a fraction of chito-oligosaccharides.

The activity of antioxidant enzymes in response to salt stress in safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) seedlings raised from seed treated with chitosan

BACKGROUND

Salt tolerance is a complex trait which involves the coordinated action of many genes that perform a variety of functions, such as ion sequestration, metabolic adjustment, osmotic adjustment and antioxidative defence. In this article, the growth and the generation and scavenging of reactive oxygen species (ROS) under normal (ECiw [Electrical conductivity of irrigation water] = 0.5 dS m(-1)) and salt stress conditions (ECiw = 3.4, 6.1, 8.6 and 10.8 dS m(-1) ) in relation to the priming of seeds of the two important oil yielding crops, i.e. safflower and sunflower, with different concentrations of chitosan [0% (control), 0.25%, 0.50%, 0.75%] is discussed.

RESULTS

Induced salinity stress significantly decreased germination percentage, germination rate, length and weight of root and shoot, and protein content. Proline content, malondialdehyde content (MDA), catalase (CAT) and peroxidase (POX) activity increased at 10.8 dS m(-1). Under control conditions there were no significant differences in germination percentage among different concentrations of chitosan, whereas CAT and POX activity were increased by low concentrations of chitosan. With increasing salt stress, low concentrations of chitosan increased germination percentage but decreased MDA and proline contents and CAT and POX activity.

CONCLUSION

Generation of ROS seems to be unavoidable under normal conditions and the activity of antioxidant enzymes in plants varies in terms of ROS generation under salt stress. However, the data indicate that plants subjected to salt stress-induced oxidative stress and the low concentrations of chitosan exhibited positive effects on salt stress alleviation through the reduction of enzyme activity in both crops.

Effects of oligosaccharides on phase transition temperatures and rheological characteristics of waxy rice starch dispersion

BACKGROUND

The creation of starch-based foods incorporated with functional ingredients such as probiotics is of great current interest in the food industry. This study aimed to investigate the effects of prebiotic oligosaccharides on the phase transition temperatures and rheological characteristics of waxy rice starch dispersions. Four oligosaccharides were applied to the rice starch dispersions: chitooligosaccharides, fructooligosaccharides, isomaltooligosaccharides and xylooligosaccharides.

RESULTS

The addition of 125 g kg(-1) oligosaccharides elevated the onset and peak temperatures for gelatinisation of 200-400 g kg(-1) waxy rice starch dispersions. The temperature of the storage modulus (G') for gelatinisation increased markedly on adding fructooligosaccharides to 200-300 g kg(-1) waxy rice starch. For gelatinisation of 300 g kg(-1) rice starch dispersion the effectiveness of the oligosaccharides in changing the above parameters was as follows: chitooligosaccharides > fructooligosaccharides > isomaltooligosaccharides > xylooligosaccharides. Moreover, their effectiveness was dependent on the amylose content, as illustrated by comparing waxy and non-waxy rice starches (amylose contents 9-256 g kg(-1)). Importantly, the logarithmic G'(95) change was linearly and negatively correlated with amylose content.

CONCLUSION

The results suggest that oligosaccharide-containing rice starch dispersions may potentially be used for the formulation of oligosaccharide-containing starchy functional foods owing to the rheological changes of these starch dispersions.

Characteristics of deacetylation and depolymerization of β-chitin from jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas) pens

This study evaluated the deacetylation characteristics of β-chitin from jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas) pens by using strongly alkaline solutions of NaOH or KOH. Taguchi design was employed to investigate the effect of reagent concentration, temperature, time, and treatment step on molecular mass (MM) and degree of deacetylation (DDA) of the chitosan obtained. The optimal treatment conditions for achieving high MM and DDA of chitosan were identified as: 40% NaOH at 90°C for 6h with three separate steps (2h+2h+2h) or 50% NaOH at 90°C for 6h with one step, or 50% KOH at 90°C for 4h with three steps (1h+1h+2h) or 6h with one step. The most important factor affecting DDA and MM was temperature and time, respectively. The chitosan obtained was then further depolymerized by cellulase or lysozyme with cellulase giving a higher degradation ratio, lower relative viscosity, and a larger amount of reducing-end formations than that of lysozyme due to its higher susceptibility. This study demonstrated that jumbo squid pens are a good source of materials to produce β-chitosan with high DDA and a wide range of MM for various potential applications.

Chitosanase Immobilization Using Composite Carrier of Sodium Alginate/Cellulose

Sodium alginate and cellulose were combined to use as a composite carrier forPseudomonassp. CUY8 chitosanase immobilization. For free enzyme, immobilized chitosanase within different carriers of sodium alginate and composite carrier, Km values were 1.919, 9.27, and 5.91µM, respectively. The increase of Km value of immobilized chitosanase with composite carrier was lower than that of single carrier. This indicates that the composite carrier of sodium alginate/ cellulose improves the affinity of chitosanase to the substrate. Furthermore, chitosanase immobilization using composite carrier shows improved thermal stability ranging from 65 to 80°C, and enzyme residual activities were more than 75%. The effects of ratio of enzyme to substrate on chitooligosaccharides (COS) production were determined, and COS yields with composite carrier was 68% at optimum ratio of 1:1. Since the immobilization process using composite carrier is simple and effective, this method could be used for the industrial production of COS.

Chitin research revisited

Two centuries after the discovery of chitin, it is widely accepted that this biopolymer is an important biomaterial in many aspects. Numerous studies on chitin have focused on its biomedical applications. In this review, various aspects of chitin research including sources, structure, biosynthesis, chitinolytic enzyme, chitin binding protein, genetic engineering approach to produce chitin, chitin and evolution, and a wide range of applications in bio- and nanotechnology will be dealt with.

Preparation, characterization and applications of low-molecular-weight alginate-oligochitosan nanocapsules

The development of drug-delivering nanoparticles from natural materials for various biomedical applications is an area of great promise. However, the contradictory data on their uncontrollable diameter, unstable structure and toxic effects, highlight the need to study their preparation, characterization and cytotoxic effects in cells. In this work, nanocapsules are made from a type of W/O microemulsion system with low-molecular-weight alginate (LMWALG) and oligochitosan (OCS). The particles possess excellent biocompatibility and good biodegradability. The size of capsules is controlled and optimized by carefully adjusting the molecular weight and concentration of LMWALG and OCS. We found, from orthogonal experiments, the encapsulation time leading to a uniform size distribution with an average diameter of 136 nm. Furthermore, we found that molecular weights of LMWALG and OCS significantly influence the stability and size of capsules. The optimized nanocapsules are further used to study the drug release of BSA. Results show that the efficiency of encapsulation approximately reaches 88.4% and the concentration of BSA in phosphate-buffered solution (PBS, pH = 7.4) is well maintained at a level of 35 to 40% from 12 h to 48 h, due to the stable and slow degradation of the nanocapusules. The biocompatibility of LMWALG/OCS nanocapsules is cross-examined by cytotoxicity experiments and acute systemic toxicological tests, and they were found to enhance the survival rate of the cells from 80.30 to 95.39% in 7 days. The synthesized nanocapsules exhibit high biocompatibility, non-toxicity, biodegradation, and uniform size, providing a new potential candidate for drug releases in clinic experiments.

Various methods for determination of the degree of N-acetylation of chitin and chitosan: a review

Chitin, chitosan, and their derivatives have been identified as versatile biopolymers for a broad range of agriculture and food applications. Up to now, several methods have been developed to determine degree of N-acetylation, DA, for chitin and chitosan. In this article, an effort has been made to review the available literature information on the DA determination. These methods are classified into three categories: (1) spectroscopy (IR, (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR, (15)N NMR, and UV); (2) conventional (various types of titration, conductometry, potentiometry, ninhydrin assay, adsorption of free amino groups of chitosan by pictric acid); (3) destructive (elemental analysis, acid or enzymatic hydrolysis of chitin/chitosan and followed by the DA measurement by colorimetry or high performance liquid chromatography, pyrolysis-gas chromatography, and thermal analysis using differential scanning calorimetry) methods. These methods have been compared for their performances and limitations as well as their advantages and disadvantages. The use of IR and NMR spectroscopy methods provides a number of advantages. They do not need long-term procedures to prepare samples, and they provide information on the chemical structure. (1)H NMR and UV techniques are more sensitive than IR, (13)C NMR, and (15)N NMR spectroscopy. The IR technique is mostly used for a qualitative evaluation and comparison studies. Conventional methods are not applicable for highly acetylated chitin. The results of the latter methods are affected by ionic strength of the solvent, pH, and temperature of solution. In destructive methods, longer times are needed for the measurements compared to spectroscopy and conventional methods, but they are applicable for the entire range of the DA.