Covalent insertion of antioxidant molecules on chitosan by a free radical grafting procedure

J Agric Food Chem. 2009 Jul 8;57(13):5933-8. doi: 10.1021/jf900778u.

Abstract

In this work, the synthesis of gallic acid-chitosan and catechin-chitosan conjugates was carried out by adopting a free radical-induced grafting procedure. For this purpose, an ascorbic acid/hydrogen peroxide redox pair was employed as radical initiator. The formation of covalent bonds between antioxidant and biopolymer was verified by performing UV, FT-IR, and DSC analyses, whereas the antioxidant properties of chitosan conjugates were compared with that of a blank chitosan, treated in the same conditions but in the absence of antioxidant molecules. The good antioxidant activity shown by functionalized materials proved the efficiency of the reaction method.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antioxidants / chemistry*
  • Antioxidants / pharmacology
  • Ascorbic Acid / chemistry
  • Calorimetry, Differential Scanning
  • Catechin / chemistry
  • Chitosan / chemistry*
  • Chitosan / pharmacology
  • Free Radicals / chemistry*
  • Gallic Acid / chemistry
  • Hydrogen Peroxide / chemistry
  • Oxidation-Reduction
  • Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet
  • Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared

Substances

  • Antioxidants
  • Free Radicals
  • Gallic Acid
  • Catechin
  • Chitosan
  • Hydrogen Peroxide
  • Ascorbic Acid