**Is Chitosan a New Panacea? Areas of Application**

Susana P. Miranda Castro and Eva G. Lizárraga Paulín

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/51200

**1. Introduction** 

Polysaccharides are extremely common in nature and cellulose is the most common organic compound on the planet. It is said that the second most common polysaccharide in the world after cellulose is chitin. "Chitin is to shellfish what cellulose is to trees".

It's been more than two centuries since chitin was discovered formally and considered very important from the scientific and industrial point of view, as it has many applications in many different areas.

The development of commercial applications for chitin and chitosan has progressed. The first known use of chitosan was a durable, flexible film used as a component in the varnish applied to Stradivarius violins, however new efforts are changing its vision in the market. The emphasis on environmentally friendly technology has stimulated interest in biopolymers, which are more versatile and far more biodegradable than their synthetic counterpart.

The purpose of this chapter is to highlight the basic concepts of chemistry and the application of this polysaccharide that is gaining much interest due to the properties it presents and the many applications in various fields. Thousands of scientific articles have been reported in the last 20 years where companies appeared engaging and exploiting this material worldwide. Through investigation many questions have arisen but have not yet answered, however, this polysaccharide has been very successful in many applications.

Furthermore, this chapter aims to convince young readers to further research on possible technology that tend to care for the environment and health.
