chitosan

Overview

Chitosan is a cationic polysaccharide derived by deacetylation of chitin, and it is widely studied in biomedical and food-related applications because of its biocompatibility, biodegradability, mucoadhesive behavior, film-forming capacity, and ability to interact with negatively charged biological surfaces. Its protonated amino groups give it distinctive physicochemical properties that support use in drug delivery, wound dressings, hemostatic materials, tissue engineering scaffolds, antimicrobial coatings, and edible packaging.

In recent biomedical research, chitosan is often used not as a single active drug but as a functional platform that can be combined with other materials such as sodium alginate, gelatin, tannic acid, carrageenan, copper(2+), calcium, and curcumin-derived iron-doped carbon dots (FeCDs). These combinations are designed to improve adhesion, mechanical strength, controlled release, antibacterial activity, anti-inflammatory activity, and tissue regeneration. Its cationic nature also underlies applications in mucosal delivery, colon-targeted systems, and interactions with bacterial biofilms and cell membranes.

Focus of Latest Publications

Recent publications portray chitosan as a versatile biomaterial used across food preservation, oral care, wound management, drug delivery, and environmental remediation. In food chemistry studies, chitosan coatings were investigated for postharvest fruit preservation, with one report noting that chitosan coatings can suffer from poor wettability on low-surface-energy fruits, which limits preservation efficacy. To address this, researchers modulated surface tension using citral nanoemulsion. In another food-related study, chitosan/berry wax active films were developed using a Pickering emulsion strategy and enriched with carvacrol essential oil to extend meat shelf-life. Chitosan also appeared in edible casings for dry-cured sausages, where it was combined with sodium alginate and tea polyphenols to create a functional casing matrix.

In oral and dental research, chitosan was evaluated alongside propolis and theobromine for remineralisation of artificial initial carious lesions, as well as for antibacterial and anti-biofilm activity. Another study developed functionalized chitosan-based mucoadhesive buccal films for local delivery of triamcinolone acetonide to the oral mucosa, using cysteine-functionalized chitosan and maleimide-functionalized chitosan derivatives. Chitosan was also used in azithromycin-loaded composite films for oral tissue regeneration, and in an enzyme-triggered coating for peri-implantitis prevention with ciprofloxacin, reflecting its role in dental implants and localized antimicrobial delivery.

A major theme across the recent literature is chitosan-based wound care and hemostasis. One study developed a chitosan/poly(acrylic acid) composite hemostatic powder with ultrafast powder-gel transition for accelerated hemostasis and tissue regeneration. Another reported a polydopamine-chitosan thermosensitive hydrogel loaded with curcumin-derived iron-doped carbon dots (FeCDs) and mesoporous silica nanoparticles for infected wound healing. Additional wound-related systems included chitosan hydrogels loaded with copper nanoclusters and carbon dots, chitosan/solid lipid nanoparticles carrying chamomile oil against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and multifunctional hemostatic hydrogels based on chitosan, gelatin, and sodium alginate with silver nanoparticles. These studies consistently leveraged chitosan’s gel-forming, adhesive, and antimicrobial-supporting properties.

Chitosan was also used in advanced drug delivery and regenerative medicine platforms. A thermoresponsive chitosan nanocomposite double-network hydrogel was designed for sustained tumor immunotherapy, while CD44-targeted chitosan nanoparticles were used to deliver ginsenoside Rg1 in diabetic kidney disease, with the goal of restoring mitochondrial homeostasis through AMPK/mTOR-mediated regulation of autophagy and pyroptosis. In another study, thiolated chitosan nanoparticles combined with gellan gum hydrogels improved ocular delivery of timolol maleate. Chitosan was further incorporated into halloysite nanotube/chitosan thermosensitive in situ gels for site-specific delivery of aceclofenac, and into a cyclodextrin-based deep eutectic eutectogel for glabridin delivery in diabetic wound management. These examples highlight chitosan’s role in controlled release, mucoadhesion, and local retention.

Several studies emphasized chitosan’s use in colon-targeted and intestine-directed systems. Dual-crosslinked polysaccharide microspheres incorporating chitosan were developed for curcumin delivery in ulcerative colitis treatment, taking advantage of chitosan’s colon enzymolysis targeting, mucosal adhesion, and pH-responsive controlled release characteristics. Similarly, food-derived probiotic extracellular vesicles were combined with chitosan and tannic acid as a synergistic therapeutic strategy for inflammatory bowel disease. Chitosan-coated microspheres were also used in orally administrable formulations for radiation enteritis, and chitosan/sulfated β-glucan nanoparticles were explored as cryoprotectants for Lactobacillus plantarum.

Beyond therapeutics, chitosan was used in materials science and environmental applications. A cationic chitosan/silsesquioxane hybrid cryogel was developed with antibacterial activity for efficient removal of Cr(VI), and a chitosan/oxidized sodium alginate double-network hydrogel incorporated Zn-BTC to improve mechanical properties and antibacterial performance. Chitosan was also used in supramolecular cryogels for 3D culture of mini-bone trabeculae tissue analogs, where glycinamide and phytic acid contributed to porous, compression-resistant structures. In ocular and blood-brain barrier-related research, chitosan nanoparticles were compared with PLGA nanoparticles in a dynamic in vitro blood-brain barrier model, reflecting interest in chitosan-based brain-targeted delivery.

Key Publications

• May Surface tension modulation of chitosan coating via citral nanoemulsion to enhance its preservation performance for postharvest fruit. (Food chemistry, 2026, PMID 41863924): "Chitosan coatings suffer from poor wettability on low-surface-energy fruits, limiting their postharvest preservation efficacy."
• May Carvacrol-enriched chitosan/berry wax active films via Pickering emulsion: a sustainable solution for extending meat shelf-life. (Food chemistry, 2026, PMID 41865517): "This study developed a functional and sustainable active chitosan/berry wax (CT/BW) composite film by incorporating carvacrol essential oil (CO) via a Pickering emulsion (PE) strategy."
• May Evaluation of the Remineralisation and Antibacterial Properties of Propolis, Chitosan, and Theobromine. (Oral health & preventive dentistry, 2026, PMID 42205106): "This study evaluated the remineralisation potential of the natural compounds propolis, chitosan, and theobromine on artificial initial carious lesions and investigated their antibacterial and anti-biofilm activities."
• May Food-Derived Biohybrid Probiotic Extracellular Vesicles for Synergistic Therapy of Inflammatory Bowel Disease. (Small (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany), 2026, PMID 42160026): "In this study, food-derived probiotic extracellular vesicles (EVs) from Lactiplantibacillus plantarum with dietary polysaccharide (chitosan) and polyphenol (tannic acid) are developed as a synergistic therapeutic strategy for inflammatory bowel disease."
• May Phloxine B-chitosan films as light-activated antibacterial coatings. (International journal of pharmaceutics, 2026, PMID 41962696): "To overcome this limitation, this work reports the covalent immobilization of the photosensitizer Phloxine B (PhB), an FDA-approved food coloring, onto a chitosan (CS) hydrogel via EDC/NHS chemistry to create a stable, reusable, contact-killing aPDT material."
• May A Polysaccharide-Based Iron-Curcumin Carbon Dot Hydrogel Dressing with Photothermal and Nanozyme Catalysis for Infected Wound Healing. (ACS applied materials & interfaces, 2026, PMID 42099268): "To leverage the structural integrity of chitosan as a polysaccharide backbone, curcumin-derived iron-doped carbon dots (FeCDs) loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) were embedded in polydopamine-chitosan thermosensitive hydrogel (PCH)."
• May Chitosan-Based Powder with Ultrafast Powder-Gel Transition for Accelerated Hemostasis and Enhanced Tissue Regeneration. (Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids, 2026, PMID 42098062): "To address this, we developed a chitosan (CS)/poly(acrylic acid) (polyacrylic acid (PAA))-based composite hemostatic powder (CP powder) for effective management of noncompressible bleeding."
• May Chitosan and Solid Lipid Nanoparticles as Nano-carriers of Chamomile oil Against S. aureus and P. aeruginosa for Wound Healing. (Current microbiology, 2026, PMID 42144475): "This study investigated whether nanoencapsulation of chamomile essential oil (ChEO) in chitosan (CH) and solid lipid (SLN) nanoparticles could enhance its antimicrobial efficacy."
• May Cationic chitosan/silsesquioxane hybrid cryogel with antibacterial activity for efficient removal of Cr (VI). (Carbohydrate polymers, 2026, PMID 41831982): "In this study, a novel water-soluble cationic quaternary ammonium silsesquioxane (SQ-N) was synthesized and subsequently reacted with chitosan (CS), polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA), and pentaerythritol tetrakis (3-mercaptopropionate) (PETMP) to fabricate a flexible chitosan hybrid cryogel (PPSC-x (x=1, 2, 3)) through UV cross-linking followed by freeze-drying."
• May Dual-crosslinked polysaccharide microspheres via glycated collagen and sodium alginate/chitosan for intestine targeted delivery of curcumin in ulcerative colitis treatment. (Carbohydrate polymers, 2026, PMID 41832025): "Finally, the cationic polysaccharide chitosan (CS) with colon enzymolysis targeting, mucosal adhesion and pH responsive controlled release characteristics was incorporated with ADC/ADCXy-Cur-SA to form a double cross-linked multifunctional hydrogel microsphere (ADC/ADCXy-Cur-SA-CS)."