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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Chitin-glucan complex (CGC) is a copolymer composed of chitin and glucan moieties
extracted from the cell-walls of several yeasts and fungi. Despite its proven valuable properties, that
include antibacterial, antioxidant and anticancer activity, the utilization of CGC in many applications
is hindered by its insolubility in water and most solvents. In this study, NaOH/urea solvent systems
were used for the first time for solubilization of CGC extracted from the yeast Komagataella pastoris.
Di erent NaOH/urea ratios (6:8, 8:4 and 11:4 (w/w), respectively) were used to obtain aqueous
solutions using a freeze/thaw procedure. There was an overall solubilization of 63–68%, with the
highest solubilization rate obtained for the highest tested urea concentration (8 wt%). The regenerated
polymer, obtained by dialysis of the alkali solutions followed by lyophilization, formed porous
macrostructures characterized by a chemical composition similar to that of the starting co-polymer,
although the acetylation degree decreased from 61.3% to 33.9–50.6%, indicating that chitin was
converted into chitosan, yielding chitosan-glucan complex (ChGC). Consistent with this, there was
a reduction of the crystallinity index and thermal degradation temperature. Given these results, this
study reports a simple and green procedure to solubilize CGC and obtain aqueous ChGC solutions
that can be processed as novel biomaterials
Description
Keywords
chitin-glucan complex (CGC) chitosan-glucan complex (ChGC) NaOH/urea solvent systems dissolution structural analysis thermal properties
Pedagogical Context
Citation
Bioengineering 2020, 7, 28
Publisher
MDPI