A Study on the Antimicrobial Activity of Chitosan on the MRSA by Tube Dilution Technique and Agar Plate Smear Method

Three different types of chitosan were prepared from red crab shells to study anti-microbial activity of chitosan on pathogenic bacteria, MRSA(Methicillin-resistant. Staphylococcus aureus), Water-insoluble chitosan, whose degree of deacetylation is kept over 90% and molecular weights are 20,000, 500,000, 150,000, 80,000, and 40,000, respectively. Water-soluble chitosan, whose degree of deacetylation is about 48% and molecular weights are 200,000 and 80,000. Water-soluble chitosan, whose degree of deacetylation is 82% and molecular weight is 3,900. The anti-microbial activities of three types of chitosan were investigated by Tube Dilution Technique(TDT) and Agar Plate Smear Method(APSM). And the following conclusions are made ; Chitosan having 5 different types of M.W chitosan (over 90% deacetylation) showed similar anti-microbial activities at over 0.05% concentration. Especially, chitosan having M.W 40,000 150,000 showed the excellent anti-microbial activity. The anti-microbial activity of chitosan was enhanced when the chitosan/acetic add solution was aged for 7days. The anti-microbial activity of chitosan was only shown at chitosan/acetic acid solution. The anti-microbial activity was not detected in chitosan solution dissolved in neutral pH water. Therefore, it can be concluded that the anti-microbial activity was due to NH3+ cationic ion of chitosan in acidic aqueous solution.

Tube Dilution Technique과 Ager Plate Smear Method에 의한 키토산의 MPSA 항미생물성