Antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of Ceriodaphnia quadrangula ephippia chitosan

The chitosan from ephippia of Ceriodaphnia quadrangula (Crustaceae) has been fully characterized in our previous study, and in this work it was tested for antibacterial and antifungal activities against human and fish pathogens, while also determining its antioxidant activities. Using the disc diffusion method showed that the antimicrobial activity was observed against all tested microorganisms in the range of 12.84 - 16.28 mm.The minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) value was found to be 0.63 - 2.50 mg/ml. Chitosan obtained from C. quadrangula ephippia showed higher antimicrobial activity against some pathogenic bacteria than commercial antibiotics. While chitosan inhibited 35.83% of the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radicals (at 5 mg/ml), it showed an activity of 14.48 µg/ml for ferrous ion reducing. Consequently, it is suggested that chitosan obtained from the ephippia of C. quadrangula (Crustacea) can be used as food/feed additives, preservatives or in the pharmaceutical industry instead of using synthetic antimicrobials and antioxidants. © 2016 University of Bucharest