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Abstract Chitosan (CS) is considered a natural polysaccharide obtained from deacetylation of the chitin [1, 2]. It is extensively investigated and the most numerous polysaccharide when compared with cellulose [3]. Commercially, it is gained from the exoskeleton of crustaceans as crabs and shrimps and cell walls of the fungi and obtained as by-products of seafood processing industry by using sodium hydroxide in excess as a reagent and water as a solvent to deacetylate chitin. Chemically, CS is linear polysaccharide which contains randomly distributed β-(1-4)-linked D-glucosamine (deacetylated unit) and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (acetylated units) in different proportion depending on the degree of deacetylation (Figure 1.1). The existence of cationic amino groups distinguishes CS from other available polysaccharides. |