| Abstract: | A low toxicity of chitin was demonstrated to be mostly due to biodegradability and the fast metabolization of hydrolysate in animal body. Chitosan, a deacetylated derivative of chitin, is also known to be a biocompatible polymer in spite of a slight immunoadjuvant activity in animal body. Chitosan is easily regenerated to fiber, film, beads and non woven fabrics owing to its high solubility toward diluted aqueous organic acids such as formic acid, acetic acid, glutamic acid and ascorbic acid. The regeneration of chitin was achieved into fibers, gels, porous foams and non woven fabrics following to dissolution of chitin with formic acid or calcium chloride dihydrate saturated methanol. Chitin and its derivatives have been applied as biomedical materials due to remarkable advantages such as antimicrobial activity, acceleration of epidermal cell assembly, low toxicity, and biodegradability. |
