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Abstract: Inulin, a kind of abundant, water-soluble, renewable polysaccharide, is mainly extracted from such low-requirement crops as Jerusalem artichoke, chicory, and yacon. The objective of this study was to modify inulin at its primary hydroxyls to give 6-amino-6-deoxyinulin, allowing for the facile chemical manipulation of inulin to encourage the employment of this currently underutilized biodegradable and environmentally benign resource. Additionally, its antifungal properties against two strains of phytopathogens, Cladosporium cucumerinum (Ell.) et Arthur and Fusarium oxysporum sp. Cucumis sativus L., were also evaluated by hypha measurement in vitro and the inhibitory indices against these two fungi were 60.1% and 53.3% at 1000μg/mL, respectively. Because 6-amino-6-deoxyinulin is easy to prepare and exhibits improved potential activities, this material may represent an attractive new platform for chemical modifications of inulin. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Three kinds of Schiff bases of carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCTS) were prepared, and their antifungal activities were assessed according to Jasso de Rodríguez’s method. The results indicated that 2-(2-hydroxybenzylideneamino)-6-carboxymethylchitosan (HNCMCTS) and 2-(5-chloro-2-hydroxybenzylideneamino)-6-carboxymethylchitosan (HCCMCTS) had better inhibitory effects than those of chitosan or CMCTS against Fusarium oxysporium f. sp. vasinfectum, Alternaria solani, and Valsa mali. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Five kinds of Schiff bases of chitosan and carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCTS) have been prepared according to a previous method and the antioxidant activity was studied using an established system, such as superoxide and hydroxyl radical scavenging. Obvious differences between the Schiff bases of chitosan and CMCTS were observed, which might be related to contents of the active hydroxyl and amino groups in the molecular chains. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The effect of inorganic salts such as sodium chloride on the hydrolysis of chitosan in a microwave field was investigated. While it is known that microwave heating is a convenient way to obtain a wide range of products of different molecular weights only by changing the reaction time and/or the radiation power, the addition of some inorganic salts was shown to effectively accelerate the degradation of chitosan under microwave irradiation. The molecular weight of the degraded chitosan obtained by microwave irradiation was considerably lower than that obtained by traditional heating. Moreover, the molecular weight of degraded chitosan obtained by microwave irradiation assisted under the conditions of added salt was considerably lower than that obtained by microwave irradiation without added salt. Furthermore, the effect of ionic strength of the added salts was not linked with the change of molecular weight. FTIR spectral analyses demonstrated that a significantly shorter time was required to obtain a satisfactory molecular weight by the microwave irradiation-assisted inorganic salt method than by microwave irradiation without inorganic salts and conventional technology. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]