Compilation of analytical methods to characterize and determine chitosan, and main applications of the polymer in food active packaging

• Published in: CYTA: journal of food 2011-12, Vol.9 (4), p.319-328
• Main Authors: Lago, MA, Rodriguez Bernaldo de Quiros, A, Sendon, R, Sanches-Silva, A, Costa, H S, Sanchez-Machado, DI, Lopez-Cervantes, J, Soto Valdez, H, Aurrekoetxea, G P, Angulo, I, Paseiro Losada, P
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1947-6337; 1947-6345
• DOI: 10.1080/19476337.2011.603844

Antimicrobial films for food packaging applications have received increasing attention from the industry in recent years. Due to their exceptional properties, such as non-toxicity, biodegradability, antimicrobial characteristics, and biocompatibility, chitosan has proven useful for the development of active materials. This review aims to provide anoverview of the main techniques used for the characterization of chitin and chitosan, including Fourier transforminfrared spectroscopy (FTIR), 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, UV spectrophotometry, viscosimetry, elemental analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), titrations, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) among others. In addition, the main applications of the polymer in food packaging are also reported.Original Abstract: En los ultimos anos los films antimicrobianos han recibido una gran atencion por parte de la industria para su aplicacion en el envasado alimentario. Debido a sus excepcionales propiedades, no-toxico, biodegradable, caracteristicas antimicrobianas y biocompatible, el quitosano ha demostrado ser util para el desarrollo de materiales activos. Este articulo de revision tiene por objeto proporcionar una vision general de las principales tecnicas usadas para la caracterizacion de quitina y quitosano incluidas la espectroscopia infrarroja (FTIR), la espectroscopia RMN de 1H y 13C, la espectrofotometria UV, viscosimetria, analisis elemental, difraccion de rayos-X (XRD), analisis termogravimetrico (TGA), titulaciones, microscopia electronica de barrido (SEM) y cromatografia de exclusion por tamanos (SEC)entre otras. Ademas, se describen las principales aplicaciones del polimero en el envasado de los alimentos.