title: Evaluation of different factors affecting antimicrobial properties of chitosan.
abstract: Chitosan as one of the natural biopolymers with antimicrobial activities could be a good choice to be applied in many areas including pharmaceuticals, foods, cosmetics, chemicals, agricultural crops, etc. There have been many studies in the literature which show this superb polymer is dependent on many factors to display its antimicrobial properties including the environmental conditions such as pH, type of microorganism, and neighbouring components; and its structural conditions such as molecular weight, degree of deacetylation, derivative form, its concentration, and original source. In this review, after a brief explanation of antimicrobial activity of chitosan and its importance, we will discuss the factors affecting the antimicrobial properties of this biopolymer based on recent studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Materials and Process Design Engineering, Faculty of Food Technology, University of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hosseinnejad
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Materials and Process Design Engineering, Faculty of Food Technology, University of Agricultural Science and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran; Cereals Health Research Center, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan, Iran. Electronic address: smjafari@gau.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Seid Mahdi
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Jafari
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects; D002686:Chitin / Q000737:chemistry; D048271:Chitosan / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008970:Molecular Weight; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D002686:Chitin; D048271:Chitosan
keywords: Antimicrobial properties; Chitosan; Derivatives