Chitooligosaccharides-based Food Preservation Solution

As a physical, chemical or enzymatic depolymerization product of chitosan, chitooligosaccharide is superior to the parent polymer in many aspects, for example, it has better antioxidant and antibacterial properties, and has significant application potential in various industries. Aprofood has deeply discussed the molecular mechanism behind the activity of chitooligosaccharides, and is committed to providing customers around the world with comprehensive food preservation solutions.

What are Chitooligosaccharides?

Chitosan is derived from the exoskeleton of arthropods (mainly crustaceans and insect shells) or the cell walls of some fungi and algae, obtained by depolymerization, chitosan with DP less than 20 and average MW less than 3.9 kDa is called Chitooligosaccharide (COS). COS possess a series of attractive biological properties that make these compounds have high potential in the food industry. In particular, the antibacterial and antioxidant properties of COS achieve a preservative effect in foods, as they inhibit microbial proliferation, protect lipids and proteins from oxidation, and extend the shelf life of foods. However, it should be noted that these properties may vary with the DP, DD, PA and molecular weight of chitosan oligosaccharides.

Fig. 1 Overview of chitooligosaccharide production and applications. (Benjakul, et al., 2022)

Bioactivities and Applications of COS in Food Preservation

Antioxidative Activity

Lipid oxidation is known to cause off-flavors and off-flavors in fatty foods, especially fatty fish, and is associated with the oxidative destruction of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), resulting in a short shelf life. COS is a natural antioxidant that can provide H ions to free radicals with the help of free amino groups of glucosamine units, indicating that COS has the potential to scavenge free radicals and can be used to keep high-fat foods fresh.

Antimicrobial Activity

COS can inhibit the growth of bacteria in food, plants and animals, and prevent the growth of viruses. In general, the antibacterial potential of COS may be related to the leakage of intracellular components, and the integrity of the cell membrane is altered when attacked by charged COS. It was found that COS (about 8kDa) prepared by crude chitinase had high inhibitory activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Bacillus subtilis in food.

Our Solutions

The food preservation function of chitooligosaccharide is mainly due to its antioxidant and antibacterial properties. Aprofood explores these properties in depth and provides global customers with comprehensive food preservation solutions based on chitooligosaccharides.

• The biological activity of COS was significantly affected by degree of N-acetylation, degree of polymerization, molecular weight, molecular weight distribution, pattern of N-acetylation, etc. Based on this, in our solution, we provide a variety of COS synthesis and characterization methods according to the customer's project needs to ensure that the customer's needs are met.
• We provide a variety of food preservation application solutions based on COS, including:
  a) Different food matrices (aquatic products, dairy products, fruits and vegetables, fermented foods, etc.)
  b) Different forms of use (formulations, solutions, films, coatings, etc.)
  c) Different compound formulas (with a variety of natural antibacterial ingredients, antioxidant ingredients, other food functional ingredients, etc.)
• In addition, according to the product characteristics of the application, we provide a variety of COS modification methods (such as coupling with phenols, grafting with special functional groups, etc.) to meet the special needs of customers for COS antioxidant and antibacterial properties.

Our Advantages

Comprehensive Solutions

Professional Team

Multimethod Analysis

Cost-effective Service

Aprofood is committed to providing extensive support to customers around the world in food preservation related research, please contact us to learn more about our solutions for food preservation.

References

1. Benjakul, S., A. Singh, and A. Mittal. 2022. Chitooligosaccharides: Preparation and applications in food and nutraceuticals. In Chitooligosaccharides, ed. S. K. Kim, 203–21.
2. Liaqat, F., & Eltem, R. (2018). Chitooligosaccharides and their biological activities: A comprehensive review. Carbohydrate polymers, 184, 243–259.