Chitin and chitosan as sources of biocompatible polymers for microencapsulation and membranes production

The microencapsulation process of agents with biological activity such as, DNA, pharmaceuticals, proteins, probiotics and enzymes could be defined, from the technological point of view, as the coating process of those agents, under a molecular form, as solid particles, or as liquid globules, with materials of different nature, that gives particles of micrometric size. One of the most used natural polymers for the production of microspheres is chitosan (β-1,4-glucosamine). This polycationic biopolymer, is the chitin soluble form (deacetylated form), a linear polymer constituted by N-acetylglucosamine residues, obtained from the exoskeleton of crustaceans, for example from shrimps. In this work, different methodologies have been assayed for the production of chitosan microspheres and microcapsules. The morphology of the produced microcapsules was evaluated by optical and scanning electron microscopy. Stability and liberation studies of the encapsulated agent have been also performed. Concerning the membranes, it was evaluated the production of chitosan and chitosan-collagen membranes. Both types were also analysed by SEM