Influence of the drying method in chitosans purification step

Currently, the study of extracellular biopolymers properties has received prominence for being easy extraction and purification. Chitosan has been an attractive proposition for applications in various fields such as engineering, biotechnology, medicine and pharmacology. For such applications, it is necessary purification of chitosan to obtain a product more concentrated and free of undesirable impurities. However, at this stage of the process of obtaining the biopolymer may occur morphological and physicochemical changes. This study evaluated the influence of the drying process after purification of a commercial chitosan sample and the importance of this step and its cost/benefit in applications requiring a high degree of purity. The method of drying influenced in the organoleptic properties and in the main characteristics of material. Analysis of the crystal structure by X-ray diffraction showed that the degree of crystallinity, X (%), in the purified chitosan samples was lower when compared with the unpurified sample. The degree of acetylation, DA (%), was analyzed by spectroscopy infrared with no significant changes on the three drying methods assessed, unlike the viscosimetric molecular weight, M_v, determined by capillary viscometry. (author)