Chitosan and Agaricus brasiliensis Polysaccharides Films: A Preliminary Study

Abstract

The known biotechnological properties of chitosan and the recent biological activities attributed to polysaccharides from Agaricus brasiliensis have been of interest to obtain films constituted by these two polymers. The glucans obtained from the mushroom inhibited about 96.5% of the ferrous ion, besides not promoting a significant increase of lactate dehydrogenase enzyme (LDH), which indicates that the polysaccharide is able to inhibit the production of radical species and also presents low cytotoxicity to the biological systems. The results of spectroscopy analyses in the infrared region (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction suggest an existing electrostatic interaction between the substances. A reduction in the films’ swelling capacity was observed with an increase in the polysaccharide content in the composition. In addition, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed greater surface density of the films. In convening the biological properties of the substances, it is expected that this study raises interest in evaluating the films and their capacity for healing wounds and burns.