Recent advances on the development of antibacterial polysaccharide-based materials

Abstract

This chapter aims at presenting a comprehensive overview of the latest advances in the development of antibacterial materials based on chitosan, cellulose, and starch, which being the most abundant polysaccharides have a high potential to be explored in large variety of applications (e.g., food or biomedical fields). Owing to its intrinsic antibacterial and film-forming properties, chitosan can be directly used to create antibacterial materials. Thus, the first part of this chapter focuses mainly on the factors affecting its inherent bioactivity and the strategies potentially used to enhance it, in order to broaden chitosan-based materials applicability. Then the strategies developed to impart antibacterial properties to cellulose and starch, mainly through chemical modification or combination with bioactive natural and synthetic components and polymers as well as with metal and metal oxide nanoparticles, were screened in detail, pointing out their antibacterial profile and prospective applications.