Preparation and quality control of low molecular weight chitosan / 中国中药杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To prepare the low molecular weight chitosan (LMWC) and establish the method for quality control.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>Use enzymatic degradation to prepare LMWC with chitosan, and separate by ultrafiltration; the molecular weight and purity were determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and colorimetry respectively.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>LMWC was prepared by control the hours of enzymatic degradation and ultrafiltered through filter with cutoff molecular of 10K Dalton and 50 K dalton; the average molecular weight was 20 K dalton and the purity was (96.60 +/- 1.56)%.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The condition of enzymatic degradation is geniality and easy to control, LMWCs with different molecular weight can separate by ultrafiltration efficiently; the quality of LMWC can control with gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and colorimetry.</p>