Publications in May 2011

In May the publication rate of chitosan issues slightly dropped again. 84 articles were published which means six less than in April 2011, but two publications more than in May 2010.

Strongest nations in terms of number of publications have been again China, the USA and India.

Table: Journals with the most publications about chitosan and chitosan derivatives.

Below two different publications are shortly introduced. They are about the use of chitosan as edible food coating for extended shelf life or as coating of alginate microcapsules for gastrointestinal delivery of probiotic bacteria.

Effectiveness of Edible Coatings Combined with Mild Heat Shocks on Microbial Spoilage and Sensory Quality of Fresh Cut Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L.)

M. del R. Moreira et al., Journal of food science, 2011

The continuous consumer interest in high quality food combined with environmental protection necessitates the development and evaluation of natural food coating.

The paper of Moreira et al. in particular describes the prevention of microbial deterioration of refrigerated and minimally processed broccoli. The coating of the vegetable has been carried out with either chitosan or carboxymethyl-cellulose combined or not with a previous application of a mild heat shock.

The summarized results are:

• chitosan coating significantly reduced microbiological populations (except lactic acid bacteria)
• higher reduction was achieved in combination with a heat shock treatment
• carboxymethy-lcellulose with or without previous thermal treatment did not exert any antibacterial effect

The results show that the food quality as well as shelf life of minimal processed broccoli is positively effected by chitosan coating applications.

Source: Quelle: Wiley Online Libary

Production and evaluation of dry alginate-chitosan microcapsules as an enteric delivery vehicle for probiotic bacteria

MT. Cook, G. Tzortzis, D. Charalampopoulos, VV. Khutoryanskiy, Journal of food science, 2011

The study investigates the production of alginate microcapsules, which have been coated with chitosan and act as an enteric delivery vehicle. Whereupon it is the first report describing the effects of drying on the properties of these capsules and the viability of the bacteria compared relative to wet capsules.

The results of the spectrophotometry show that chitosan stabilizes the alginate microcapsules at pHs above 3.

Chitosan coating increases the survival of the probiotic Bifidobacteria breve in simulated gastric fluid as well as prolongs its release upon exposure to intestinal pH.

Source: ACS Publications

Source: gopubmed