Working principles and use of chitosan for food component encapsulation

In Chapter 8, our colleagues have used gelatin as an example to illustrate how polymers can be used to encapsulate food components. Here we will use another polymer, namely chitosan, to further demonstrate the potential use of polymers in food science. Chitosan is a nontoxic, biocompatible, and cationic biopolymer that can be isolated from crustacean shells, fungal biomass, and insects. Nowadays, there are comprehensive data on its use in pharmacy and biomedicine. Also, several applications in the food industry as flocculating agents, antimicrobial, thickeners, and emulsifiers have been suggested and implemented. However, its commercial use for food material encapsulation is still in its infancy but deserves close attention to find new application opportunities. In this chapter, we will review the use of chitosan as a polymeric matrix to encapsulate essential food components that need to be protected before or during food processing due to their oxidation-sensitive nature. Furthermore, the potential applications of chitosan for nano and microencapsulated material to be used in food packaging will be discussed in the context of sustainable production and circular economy. Emerging technologies in food materials, like three-dimensional (3D) printing and wet spinning, will be discussed, and a market overview of chitosan's uses in food will be presented. It is anticipated that this chapter will contribute to widespread chitosan use as a food industry material to improve product shelf life and food-packaging functionality.