Chitosan Nanocomposite Coatings for Food, Paints, and Water Treatment Applications

Abstract

Worldwide, millions of tons of crustaceans are produced every year and consumed as protein-rich seafood. However, the shells of the crustaceans and other non-edible parts constituting about half of the body mass are usually discarded as waste. These discarded crustacean shells are a prominent source of polysaccharide (chitin) and protein. Chitosan is a de-acetylated form of chitin obtained from the crustacean waste that has attracted attention for applications in food, biomedical, and paint industries due to its characteristic properties, like solubility in weak acids, film-forming ability, pH-sensitivity, biodegradability, and biocompatibility. We present an overview of the application of chitosan in composite coatings for applications in food, paint, and water treatment. In the context of food industries, the main focus is on fabrication and application of chitosan-based composite films and coatings for prolonging the post-harvest life of fruits and vegetables, whereas anti-corrosion and self-healing properties are the main properties considered for antifouling applications in paints in this review.

Nanosystems for the Encapsulation of Natural Products: The Case of Chitosan Biopolymer as a Matrix

“…Chitosan could be employed in a vast variety of applications. The aforementioned properties, along with the ability of this biopolymer to be transformed to various forms, such as nano/micro-particles, emulsions, fibers, hydrogels, films and membranes are the reasons why chitosan has gained so much attention as a valuable polymer [ 37 ]. In biomedicine, chitosan could be used for treatment or diagnosis of cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes or in wound dressing applications [ 89 , 90 , 91 ] etc.…”

“…This biopolymer is considered as GRAS (Generally Recognized as Safe) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Numerous are the potential applications of chitosan in different fields, such as food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic [ 37 ]. The cationic nature of chitosan leads, under acidic conditions, to the development of various forms, such as nano/micro-particles, emulsions, fibers, hydrogels, films and membranes.…”

Biodegradable Hybrid Nanocomposite of Chitosan/Gelatin and Green Synthesized Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles for Food Packaging

“…However, in the context of growing environmental concerns associated with synthetic plastic packaging, biodegradable alternatives are being sought for packaging of fresh produce. Natural biopolymers such as chitosan, agar, gelatin, zein, and starch are commonly used as alternatives to synthetic plastic packaging of food [3][4][5][6].…”

“…Chitosan has been found to be non-toxic, and approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (US-FDA) as a generally recognized as safe (GRAS) material. Chitosan is abundantly available in exoskeletons of seafood such as crab, shrimps, locust, etc., and fish processing wastes [3]. Chitosan has been well-studied as a material for the fabrication of food packaging film due to its good film forming property, antimicrobial activity, biodegradability, low cost, and abundant availability [7].…”

Papain Covalently Immobilized on Chitosan–Clay Nanocomposite Films: Application in Synthetic and Real White Wine

“…Among biopolymers, chitosan (CS, a linear polysaccharide made of N -acetyl- d -glucosamine and d -glucosamine units [ 11 ]) is the most commonly used for the production of immobilization supports as it is, as well as in composite/nanocomposite forms [ 2 ], to be applied in the food and pharmaceutical industries.…”