Physicochemical and biofunctional properties of crab chitosan nanoparticles

The physicochemical and biofunctional properties of crab chitosan nanoparticles of two different sizes (Nano A and B) manufactured by dry milling method were evaluated for commercialization. The deacetylation degrees (DD) of Nano A, B and the control chitosan were 90.9, 93.0, and 92.7% respectively whereas their molecular weights (M(w)) were 43.9, 44.7 and 208.8 kDa. The average sizes of the dispersed Nano A, B and the control chitosan in cetyltrimethylammonium chloride were 735.9, 849.4 and 2,382.4 nm, respectively, which were lower than 1441.7, 2935.6 and 6832.9 nm of the intact chitosans. Chitosan nanoparticles had mild tyrosinase, antioxidant and angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE), but weak collagenase, elastase and beta-glucuronidase inhibitory activity. However, Nano A had strong alpha-glucosidase inhibitory activity, which was comparable to that of acarbose, a commercial alpha-glucosidase inhibitor. In addition, the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of chitosan and its nanoparticles ranged from 30 to > 200 microg/mL against each four gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Therefore, crab chitosan nanoparticles could be used as a nutraceutical, cosmeceutical or pharmaceutical product.