Abstract

Chitin is a polysaccharide based on the monomers of N-acetyl-glucosamine and chitosan is a deacetylated form of it. Our study is emphasized on two phase extraction of chitin and chitosan from fungus Rhizopus oryzae (NCIM 877) belonging to zygomycota. Optimization studies such as utilization of carbon source, pH and biomass were performed and maximum yield of chitosan (0.288 g/L) was obtained after nine days of incubation. Characterization studies of chitin and chitosan was performed using FTIR and XRD methods. Studies on degree of deacetylation (DD), molecular weight (MW) and viscosity (cP) for chitin and chitosan were found to be superior in comparison to standard. Antibacterial activity of chitosan was evaluated against test organisms Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Salmonella typhi. Chitosan demonstrated higher antibacterial activity against gram positive bacteria as compared to gram negative ones. The extracted chitosan demonstrated antioxidant activity between 60-80% as evaluated by DPPH scavenging studies.

Key words: Chitin Chitosan FTIR XRD antibacterial activity antioxidant activity