chitosan:
infinite possibilities

chitosan:
infinite possibilities

What is chitosan ?

Technically, chitosan is a polysaccharide nitrogenous biopolymer that is widely sourced from variable resources such as shrimp, crab, lobster, fungi & insects; each giving a different chitosan structures – alpha, beta, & gamma. Alpha chitosan sourced from shrimps, crabs & lobsters is the highest in chemical stability & versatility.

Chitosan made its first societal debut when NASA took it to the moon to culture agricultural stations on the moon for its visionary ambition for human colonisation of the moon.

Chitosan is notably known for being cationic which lends it the versatile functionality, where it can bind to negatively charged particles / organisms / molecules to perform function – from moisture retention, fat encapsulation & blocking, to parasite cell ruptures, nutrient encapsulation & transport.

Chitosan which has been part of science since the 1800’s has grown to be integral to 250 applications across 20+ industries. From the pharmaceutical in drug manufacturing, weight loss active ingredient, as well as  antifungal treatments, tumor,dental & diabetes innovations , to agricultural in fungicides, nematicides, plant growth regulators, also in the water treatment sector in heavy metal adsorption and flocculation/coagulation of impurities  amongst many more!

agri-
culture

In Agriculture, chitosan serves on 3 different fronts: crop production, food & beverages & animal feed additives mainly due to its fungicidal & bactericidal activities. With a versatility across such variant sectors; chitosan offers a plethora of product categories .

chitosan solutions are used from the onset from seed treatment to nematicide, fungicide , plant growth regulator to salinity relief to post harvest crop treatment.

chitosan serves in various product categories; mostly due to its moisturising, microbial, wound healing & analgesic properties

chitosan is used in hair masks, shampoo & conditions as well as anti dandruff products

Chitosan is incorporated in the formulas of toothpaste, mouthwash due to its antimicrobial, Wound Healing, anti-inflammatory, as well as  analgesic properties . And beyond regular dental care, chitosan’s hemostatic & regenerative  potential has extended its applications into  dental surgery and periodontitis treatment

With rising trends in biogenic & natural products, chitosan has become more commonly used recently in in deodorants & women care products due to its biocompatibility, moisturizing yet odor masking properties coupled with antibiosis against harmful bacteria.

Chitosan’s prominent qualities of moisture retention & antioxidant has made it popular in skin care products specifically in the anti aging and rejuvenating category.

Cosmetics & personal care

Bio-
medical

Chitosan has been widely researched & incorporated in biomedical fields due to its high success in civilian as well as military products who had first debuted it in the field of wounds  & burns treatment through wound dressing, medical sponges & sutures in war zones. Chitosan capacity for exceptional treatment comes due to its hemostatic, antimicrobial & analgesic effect all while allowing oxygen permeability to injured tissue & moisturisation .

catationic which has lent it varied applications with each varying sector. On the pharmaceutical frontiers ; chitosan’s prima quality has been used for fat blocking in weight management supplements as well as a binder to vitamins & essential elements in dietary & nutrition supplements. Beyond nutrition & diet, chitosan has also been used in the manufacturing of drugs in varied functions; ranging from encapsulation, controlled release , diluent, to emulsifier and filler.



Most recently chitosan has expanded its impact in drug delivery due to being biogenic and its ability to be used as an encapsulation with controlled release

Pharma-
ceutical

Water treatment

 it can be used as flocculating agent, chelating agent, heavy metal & color dyes adsorbent . Chitosan in water & waste water treatment has been used in municipal wastewater, drinking water, input & output industrial , aquaculture water treatment.

format as well in composites has proven exceptional merit as a high performance natural treatment solution when it came to the removal of NH3, dyes, and heavy metals. Turbidity, TDS, COD, BOD, oil & grease, Carbon dioxide and dissolved oxygen as well the maintenance of PH .

the treatment of input and output water sources in the dairy, textiles, paper, food , beverages, paints & drinking water industrial sectors as well as aquaculture farms

Textiles: textile input material + textiles finishing

used due to its relative similarity to cellulose making it easy to blend with with fibres such as wool, cotton silk & polyester to increase strength during manufacturing

 an antibacterial, anti-wrinkle, antistatic or antibacterial finish making the textiles more versatile for use in the healthcare [bed sheets, sutures, threads & fibres ] & hospitality sectors

the treatment of input and output water sources in the dairy, textiles, paper, food , beverages, paints & drinking water industrial sectors as well as aquaculture farms

Industrial

research

sectors has made it a curious material in the scientific community especially over the past decade.  On an almost weekly basis new literature is added to the chitosan research body tapping into new possibilities for the use of the biopolymer as a high performance natural material.

 an antibacterial, anti-wrinkle, antistatic or antibacterial finish making the textiles more versatile for use in the healthcare [bed sheets, sutures, threads & fibres ] & hospitality sectors

product line for egyptian & regional chitosan researchers. Delivering tailored chitosan formulations to empower the frontiers of  chitosan possibilities!