Ahmad and Ikram, IJPSR, 2015; Vol. 6(1): 14-30. E-ISSN: 0975-8232; P-ISSN: 2320-5148 International Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Research 14 IJPSR (2015), Vol. 6, Issue 1 (Review Article) Received on 08 May, 2014; received in revised form, 22 August, 2014; accepted, 17 November, 2014; published 01 January, 2015 CHITOSAN & ITS DERIVATIVES: A REVIEW IN RECENT INNOVATIONS Shakeel Ahmed and Saiqa Ikram * Department of Chemistry, Jamia Millia Islamia (Central University), New Delhi - 110025, India ABSTRACT: Chitosan a natural polymer available and easy to produce in countless parts of the world; is a material that can significantly improve the standard of living in developing countries where the industry is often surpassing the need to protect the environment and/or where the environment protection is strongly dependent on limited financial resources available to those in charge of environmental protection. Its physicochemical properties such as its poor solubility in water or in organic solvents limit its utilization for a specific application. A smart way is to impart new properties to chitosan is its chemical modification of chain, generally by grafting of functional groups without disturbing the initial skeleton in order to keep the original properties intact. In this way the modified chitosan offers huge relevance in terms of its modified derivatives. The present review is dedicated to the advancements in the chitosan based derivatives and their special attention in food industry as the packaging material is also addressed. INTRODUCTION: Over the last few decades, the global environmental problem has attracted significant awareness of the research community and policymakers for the development of polymeric materials which are degradable in a natural environment. The production of biodegradable polymers which are decomposed by microorganisms and photodegradable polymers that are decomposed by sunlight is a priority among researchers. An ideal biodegradable polymeric material is one which after being disposed of can be recycled many times before promptly being decomposed by microorganisms or sunlight providing carbon dioxide and water. Chitosan is such a type of polymer which is degradable in natural environment. QUICK RESPONSE CODE DOI: 10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.6(1).14-30 Article can be accessed online on: www.ijpsr.com DOI link: http://dx.doi.org/10.13040/IJPSR.0975-8232.6(1).14-30 Chitosan is a polycationic naturally occurring bio- degradable, non-toxic, non-allergenic biopolysaccharide derived from chitin which is found in abundance in nature 1-2 . It contains more than 5000 glucosamine units and is obtained commercially from shrimp and crab shell containing chitin which is an N- acetyl glucosamine polymer. The N- acetyl glucosamine gets converted in to glucosamine units by alkaline de-acetylation with NaOH (with 40-50% conc.) 3-5 .Chitosan is considered as most promising materials for future applications on account of its excellent biodegradability, biocompatibility, non-toxicity, antimicrobial activity, and its economic advantages 6 . The chemical structure of chitin is made up of linear monomeric units of 2- acetamido-2-deoxy- D-glucopyranose attached through ȕ-(1-4) linkages 7 . Sources and extraction of chitosan from raw materials: Chitin, the main source of chitosan is widely distributed both in the animal and the plant Keywords: Chitosan, bio-degradability, derivatives, degree of deacetylation Correspondence to Author: Saiqa Ikram Assistant Professor Department of Chemistry Faculty of Natural Sciences Jamia Millia Islamia New Delhi-110025 India. E-mail: sikram@jmi.ac.in