Polysaccharides and their composites are highly promising materials for food, pharmaceutical and biomedical applications; including drug delivery, tissue engineering and packaging. Fiber- and nano-reinforced composites are good alternatives to non-biodegradable petroleum-based polymers. The great advantage of these materials is that they are both environment friendly and nontoxic. Keywords: Polysaccharides, Polysaccharide Composites, Drug Delivery, Tissue Engineering, Pharmaceutical Packaging, Food Packaging , Environment Friendly Materials, Nontoxic Materials, Wound-Healing Sponge, Skin Lesions, Chitosan Composites, Nanocellulose, Starch-Based Composites.

• front-matter
  • Table of Contents
  • Preface
• 1
  • Polysaccharide Composites as a Wound-Healing Sponge
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Wound healing from hemostasis to remodeling
  • 3. History of wound treatment
  • 4. The need for modern dressings
  • 5. Sponges
  • 6. Wound healing potential of polysaccharides
    • 6.1 Alginate composite sponges
    • 6.2 Cellulose composite sponges
    • 6.3 Hyaluronic acid composite sponges
    • 6.4 Chitosan composite sponges
    • 6.5 Dextran composite sponges
    • 6.6 Other composite sponges of the polysaccharides
  • Conclusion
  • References
• 2
  • Polysaccharides for Drug Delivery
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Applications
  • 3. Advancements
    • 3.1 Polysaccharide anchored liposomes
    • 3.2 Auto- associated amphiphilic polysaccharides
    • 3.3 Electrospun polysaccharides
    • 3.4 Polyelectrolyte complexes for nano drug delivery
    • 3.5 Polysaccharide based aerogel
    • 3.6 Polysaccharide nanocomposites
    • 3.7 Polysaccharide based nanogels
    • 3.8 Polysaccharide based quantum dots
    • 3.9 Polysaccharide decorated nanoparticles
    • 3.10 Polysaccharide micelles
  • 4. Drug release mechanisms
  • 5. Factors affecting drug release
  • 6. Kinetics of drug release
  • 7. Future prospective
  • References
• 3
  • Polysaccharide Membranes for Drug Delivery System in the Skin Lesion
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Biomaterials
    • 2.1 Polysaccharide
  • 3. Application skin drug delivery
  • 4. Marketing
  • Conclusion
  • References
• 4
  • Applications of Chitosan Composites in Pharmaceutical and Food Sectors
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Applications of chitosan composites in pharmaceutical sectors
    • 2.1 Application of chitosan composite in pharmaceutics/drug delivery
    • 2.1.1 Properties of chitosan suitable for drug delivery
    • 2.1.1.1 Anionic properties
    • 2.1.1.2 Mucoadhesive properties
    • 2.1.1.3 Gelling properties
    • 2.1.1.4 Gene expression properties
    • 2.1.1.5 Permeation enhancing properties
    • 2.2 Chitosan composite in gene delivery
    • 2.3 Chitosan composite in tissue engineering
    • 2.3.1 Bone tissue engineering
    • 2.3.2 Chitosan in cartilage tissue engineering
    • 2.3.3 Chitosan in nerve tissue engineering
    • 2.3.4 Chitosan in ischemic tissue engineering
    • 2.3.5 Chitosan in liver tissue engineering
    • 2.4 Chitosan composite in preparation of implants
    • 2.5 Chitosan composite in preparation of contact lenses
    • 2.6 Chitosan composite in wound healing
    • 2.6.1 Scaffold
    • 2.6.2 Sponges
    • 2.6.3 Hydrogels
    • 2.6.4 Films
    • 2.7 Application of chitosan composite in bioimaging
    • 2.8 Chitosan composite in cancer chemotherapy
  • 3. Applications of chitosan composites in food sectors
  • Conclusions
  • References
• 5
  • Nanocellulose-Improved Food Packaging
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Categories of packaging
  • 3. Types of food packaging
    • 3.1 Conventional food packaging
    • 3.2 Active food packaging
    • 3.2.1 Antimicrobial food packaging
    • 3.2.2 Antioxidant food packaging
    • 3.2.3 Aromatic food packaging
    • 3.2.4 Smart/intelligent food packaging
    • 3.3 Edible films and coatings
  • 4. Materials for food packaging
    • 4.1 Metals
    • 4.2 Glass
    • 4.3 Paper
    • 4.4 Synthetic polymers
    • 4.5 Biopolymers
  • 5. Nanocellulose (NC)
  • 6. Use of nanotechnology in food packaging
    • 6.1 Nanocellulose as additive and coating of paper
    • 6.2 Synthetic polymers
    • 6.3 Biopolymers based nanocomposites
  • 7. Final considerations
  • Acknowledgments
  • References
• 6
  • Nanocellulose in Paper Making
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Classification of nanocellulose
    • 2.1 Cellulose nanocrystals
    • 2.2 Cellulose nanofibers
    • 2.3 Bacterial nanocellulose
  • 3. Properties of nanocelluloses
    • 3.1 Rheological properties
    • 3.2 Aspect ratio
    • 3.3 Thermal properties
    • 3.4 Optical properties
    • 3.5 Barrier properties
  • 4. Nanocellulose in papermaking
  • Conclusions
  • Acknowledgment
  • References
• 7
  • Starch-Based Composites and Their Applications
  • 1. Introduction
    • 1.1 Starch as a green polymer
    • 1.2 Sources of starch
    • 1.3 Properties of Starch polymer composites
    • 1.4 Chemistry of starch composites
  • 2. Processing of starch composites
    • 2.1 Processing techniques
    • 2.3 Effect of processing techniques
  • 3. Why blend polymers
    • 3.1 Starch and starch blended polymers
    • 3.2 Challenges in the fabrication of starch and starch blended composites
  • 4. Application
    • 4.1 Food packaging
    • 4.2 Biomedical application
    • 4.3 Drug delivery
    • 4.5 Adsorption
  • 5. Future trend
    • Conclusion
  • References
• back-matter
  • Keyword Index
  • About the Editors