Recent Advances of Chitosan and Its Derivatives for Novel Applications in Food Science

Chitosan is produced by deacetylation of chitin, the second most abundant polymer in nature next to cellulose. Being a unique cationic polysaccharide, chitosan possesses many functional properties and bioactivities, such as antioxidant property, lipidlowering activity, antimicrobial capacity, film-forming and gelling property, encapsulation potentials, and so on. Since last decade, it has been extensively studied in food, pharmaceutical, biomedicine, and chemical industries. In recent years, many advanced applications of chitosan and its derivatives have been developed in food science, including novel chitosan derivatives with enhanced antioxidant and antimicrobial activities, chitosan-based active films for food packaging to extend shelf life, as well as chitosan-based encapsulation and delivery systems for nutrients. This review focuses on the advances in recent five years in the development of chitosan and its derivatives for their novel applications related to food science.