Indian Journal of Biotechnology Vol 12, April 2013, pp 231-235 Preparation of chitosan from Penicillium spp. and determination of their degree of deacetylation Mohammad Ali Ebrahimzadeh 1 , Aroona Chabra 2 *, Eshrat Gharaei-Fathabad 1 and Fereshteh Pourmorad 1 1 Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center and 2 Student Research Committee, Department of Pharmacognosy and Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran Received 9 March 2012; revised 9 July 2012; accepted 12 September 2012 Four fungal strains, Penicillium waksmanii, P. aurantiogriseum, P. viridicatum and P. citrinum were investigated for their chitosan production. Their chitosan yields were in the range of 20-30% of the dry wt mycetium. The degree of deacetylation was estimated by analytical method FT-IR; it ranged between 47.3-65.1%. The viscosity of 1% chitosan in 1% acetic acid solution was determined. P. waksmanii showed the highest degree of deacetylation and viscosity. Keywords: Chitosan, degree of deacetylation, Penicillium Introduction Chitosan, an important polysaccharide of marine origin, is prepared from the shells of crustaceans. Branconnot 1 first described it in 1811 and Rouget 2 discovered chitosan as the main derivative of chitin in 1859. Chitosan (poly-N-acetylglucosamine) is a natural and biodegradable biopolymer. Chitosan is commercially produced by the deacetylation of chitin obtained from shellfish, shrimp waste, and crab and lobster processing, using strong alkalies at high temperatures for long periods of time. There are problems with the seasonal supply of raw materials and the high processing costs associated with chemical conversion of the chitin to chitosan 3 . Furthermore, the chitosans derived from such a process is heterogeneous with respect to their physiochemical properties 4 . Chitosan has profound applications in the field of clarification and purification, chromatography, paper and textiles, photography, food and nutrition, agriculture, pharmaceutical and medical, cosmetics, biodegradable membranes and biotechnology. It has been reported to possess immunological 4,5 , antibacterial 6 , glucose lowering effects 7 , and wound healing 8 properties. Chitosan is also an effective and adequate haemostatic agent even under the most severe conditions of anticoagulation. Its solution is found beneficial for healing athlete’s foot condition 9 . Both hard and soft contact lenses can be made from chitosan. It is used in pharmaceutical preparations due to its desirable characteristics, such as, biocompatibility, digestibility, non toxicity, good bioavailability and absorption properties. The properties of chitin and chitosan, e.g., origin of the material, degree of N-acetylation, mol wt and solvent and solution properties are important in the researches 3 . Different chitosan formulation, such as, solutions, freeze dried or spray dried powders and nanoparticles have been investigated for the potential improvement of absorption of various macromolecular drugs 10 . Chitosan and its derivatives can be variously used as a permeability control agent, an adhesive, a paper- sizing agent, fining agent, flocculating and chelating agent, antimicrobial compound and a chromatographic support 11 . The ratio of 2-acetamido- 2-deoxy-D-glucopyranose to 2-amino-2-deoxy- D-glucopyranose structural units is one of the important parameter in chitin, namely the degree of deacetylation (DD). Chitin deacetylated to such an extent that it becomes soluble in dilute aqueous acetic acid and formic acids. Chitosan is the fully or partially N-deacetylated derivative of chitin and to define the above ratio, attempts have been made with many analytical tools, which include IR spectroscopy, gel permission chromatography, UV spectroscopy, 1 H and 13 C-NMR, thermal analysis, various titration schemes, and HPLC 12,13 . Recent advances in —————— *Author for correspondence: Tel: +989112100762; Fax: +981513543084 E-mail: Aroona.chabra@yahoo.com