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Naturally existing polymer compounds, particularly polysaccharide polymers, have been employed in pharmaceuticals to deliver a wide range of therapeutic medicines. Next to cellulose-ß-(1,4) linked N-acetyl-D-glucosamine units, chitosan is the second most prevalent naturally occurring polysaccharide. It is a mucoadhesive polymer that is biocompatible and biodegradable and has been widely used in the creation of both micro- and nanoparticles. Natural polymers made of randomly arranged N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (acetylated unit) and deacetyl-D-glucosamine (deacetylated unit) are chitin and its deacetylated derivative chitosan. Due to the free protonable amino groups found in the D-glucosamine units, chitosan is soluble in acidic environments whereas chitin is insoluble in aqueous media. Chitosan is a particularly promising source for pharmaceutical application. Applications of chitosan as a wound dressing material include development of antimicrobial agents, chitosan bandage for wound healing, suitable for starting material for wound dressings, its hemostatic effect -ability to inhibit microbial growth. Chitosan is biodegradable non-toxic natural polymer that promotes wound healing and can be used as antibiotics for bacterial control by chitosan-based wound dressings. Due to its inherent antibacterial qualities and capacity to transfer extrinsic antimicrobial agents to wounds and burns, chitosan is used to treat wound and burn infections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chitin is the most abundant nitrogenous polysaccharide found on the shells of crustaceans. Chitosan, the derivative of chitin yield through deacetylation has discovered a lot of bioactive properties and biotechnological applications recently. Oyster shell, which is abundant is chitin polysaccharide could be a good source for Chitosan extraction. The Chitosan extracted from chitin polysaccharide can be used for antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activity. In this study, Chitosan extracted from oyster shells was characterised by Fourier Transform-Infra-Red spectroscopy with degree of deacetylation of 93.8%. The FT-IR analysis of Chitosan showed different functional groups of organic compounds. Antibacterial property of Chitosan against Escherichia coli and staphylococcus bacterial strains was examined using agar well diffusion method. The antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli at 500 µg/ml Chitosan concentration was better when compared to staphylococcus upon the same concentration. In vitro HRBC membrane stabilisation method was performed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory activity of Chitosan and it showed 45.5% of protection at 500 µg/ml. Thus, the Chitosan extracted from oyster shells can be applied to pharmaceutical industry because it showed greater efficacy in antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activity [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Giant tiger prawn (Penaeus monodon) was first represented in 1798 by John Christian Fabricius. It is the second most widely cultured prawn species in the world. Giant tiger prawn shell wastes are a rich source of protein and valuable bioactive carbohydrate polymers such as chitin. Chitin and chitosan have high economic value because of their biological activities and their biomedical and industrial applications. The comparative studies were performed on the extraction of chitin and chitosan from giant tiger prawn to evaluate its effectiveness in the antiplatelet and anti-glycation activity. After cellulose, chitin is the most distributed biopolymer in nature. Chitosan is non-hazardous and biopolymer, synthesised from the chitin which has biodegradable, biocompatible properties. Giant tiger prawn shells were demineralised with HCl and deproteinised with sodium hydroxide to obtain chitin and it was deacetylated with strong alkali to yield chitosan. The prepared chitin and chitosan were characterised by quantitative test and Fourier Transform-Infra-Red spectrometry. The antiplatelet and anti-glycation activity was examined for both chitin and chitosan. The antiplatelet activity was tested using two different assays and chitosan showed higher activity than chitin. In anti-glycation activity chitosan showed effective activity than chitin at higher concentration. Hence, chitin and chitosan showed excellent antiplatelet and anti-glycation activity. It can be applied to pharmaceutical industry and cosmetology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]