Modified chitosan: Insight on biomedical and industrial applications

Chitosan (CS), a by -product of chitin deacetylation can be useful in a broad range of purposes, to mention agriculture, pharmaceuticals, material science, food and nutrition, biotechnology and of recent, in gene therapy. Chitosan is a highly desired biomolecule due to the existence of many sensitive functional groups inside the molecule and also because of its net cationicity. The latter provides flexibility for creating a wide range of derivatives for particular end users across various industries. This overview aims to compile some of the most recent research on the bio-related applications that chitosan and its derivatives can be used for. However, chitosan's reactive functional groups are amendable to chemical reaction. Modifying the material to show enhanced solubility, a greater range of application options and pH-sensitive targeting and others have been a major focus of chitosan research. This review describes the modifications of chitosan that have been made to improve its water solubility, pH sensitivity, and capacity to target chitosan derivatives. Applying the by-products of chitosan as antibacterial, in targeting, extended release and as delivery systems is also covered. The by-products of chitosan will be important and potentially useful in developing new biomedical drugs in time to come.