Bioactive Chitosan Films from Shrimp and Crab Shells: Physicochemical and Functional Properties Associated with Biological Source and Processing History
5 affiliations
- 1Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigación para el Desarrollo Integral Regional Unidad Sinaloa, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Guasave 81100, Mexico
- 2Centro de Desarrollo de Productos Bióticos, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Yautepec de Zaragoza 62731, Mexico
- 3Centro Interdisciplinario de Investigaciones y Estudios Sobre Medio Ambiente y Desarrollo, Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Ciudad de México 07340, Mexico
- 4Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo, Hermosillo 83304, Mexico
- 5Centro de Investigación en Materiales Avanzados, Chihuahua 31136, Mexico
Abstract
Chitosan films are promising materials for food-related applications, but their performance depends on polymer characteristics. This study compared films from hybrid chemical–microbiological shrimp (CM-Shr) and crab (CM-Crb) chitosans, chemically extracted crab chitosan (Ch-Crb), and high- (Ref-H) and low-molecular-weight (Ref-L) reference chitosans. Films were prepared using 1.5% (w/v) chitosan in 1% (v/v) acetic acid with glycerol at 30% (w/w, relative to dry chitosan). Chitosans were characterized by degree of deacetylation, molecular weight, moisture, ash, nitrogen and ATR-FTIR; films were assessed for thermal, morphological, hydration, mechanical, optical, and antibacterial properties. ATR-FTIR indicated differences in amino, residual N-acetyl, and hydrogen-bonded environments. At 15 min, CM-Crb and Ch-Crb exhibited lower apparent water absorption (34.5 ± 1.2% and 32.6 ± 0.7%) than Ref-H (51.8 ± 1.9%). Antibacterial inhibition beyond the 6 mm film-disk diameter was absent at 1.5% and predominantly detected for CM-Crb and Ch-Crb at 3.0–4.5% (w/v) chitosan in the film-forming solutions. CM-Crb exhibited tensile strength of 52.1 ± 4.3 MPa, the highest elongation at break (3.7 ± 0.3%) and UV blocking at 340 nm (35%). Film performance was associated with the physicochemical profiles and processing history of the starting chitosans.
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BibTeX
@article{carrazcorivera2026bioactive,
title = {{Bioactive Chitosan Films from Shrimp and Crab Shells: Physicochemical and Functional Properties Associated with Biological Source and Processing History}},
author = {Mónica Alejandra Carrazco-Rivera and Laura Leticia Barrera-Necha and José Luis Trejo-Espino and Pedro Lina-Manjarrez and Jaime Lizardi-Mendoza and Karla Guadalupe Martínez-Robinson and Victor Manuel Orozco-Carmona and José Luis Acosta-Rodríguez},
journal = {Polymers},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.3390/polym18212761},
url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/21/2761},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Bioactive Chitosan Films from Shrimp and Crab Shells: Physicochemical and Functional Properties Associated with Biological Source and Processing History
AU - Mónica Alejandra Carrazco-Rivera
AU - Laura Leticia Barrera-Necha
AU - José Luis Trejo-Espino
AU - Pedro Lina-Manjarrez
AU - Jaime Lizardi-Mendoza
AU - Karla Guadalupe Martínez-Robinson
AU - Victor Manuel Orozco-Carmona
AU - José Luis Acosta-Rodríguez
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/06
JO - Polymers
DO - 10.3390/polym18212761
UR - https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/18/21/2761
AB - Chitosan films are promising materials for food-related applications, but their performance depends on polymer characteristics. This study compared films from hybrid chemical–microbiological shrimp (CM-Shr) and crab (CM-Crb) chitosans, chemically extracted crab chitosan (Ch-Crb), and high- (Ref-H) and low-molecular-weight (Ref-L) reference chitosans. Films were prepared using 1.5% (w/v) chitosan in 1% (v/v) acetic acid with glycerol at 30% (w/w, relative to dry chitosan). Chitosans were characterized by degree of deacetylation, molecular weight, moisture, ash, nitrogen and ATR-FTIR; films were assessed for thermal, morphological, hydration, mechanical, optical, and antibacterial properties. ATR-FTIR indicated differences in amino, residual N-acetyl, and hydrogen-bonded environments. At 15 min, CM-Crb and Ch-Crb exhibited lower apparent water absorption (34.5 ± 1.2% and 32.6 ± 0.7%) than Ref-H (51.8 ± 1.9%). Antibacterial inhibition beyond the 6 mm film-disk diameter was absent at 1.5% and predominantly detected for CM-Crb and Ch-Crb at 3.0–4.5% (w/v) chitosan in the film-forming solutions. CM-Crb exhibited tensile strength of 52.1 ± 4.3 MPa, the highest elongation at break (3.7 ± 0.3%) and UV blocking at 340 nm (35%). Film performance was associated with the physicochemical profiles and processing history of the starting chitosans.
SN - 2073-4360
ER -