Chitooligosaccharides

This book outlines the production of chitooligossacharides and their derivatives and discusses their main biological activities, biomedical applications and their role in disease prevention. Chitooligosaccharides are products of chitosan or chitin degradation, prepared by enzymatic or chemical hydrolysis of chitosan, and they consist mainly of N-acetyl glucosamine and glucosamine bonded with a glycosidic bond. Compared to chitin and chitosan, chitooligossacharides offer advantages for large-scale and commercial applications due to their solubility in water and lower molecular weight.

Professor Dr. Se-Kwon Kim has more than 40 years of experience as a marine biochemist, working in the field of marine bioprocess and biotechnology. He is currently Distinguished Professor at the Hanyang University, Korea and Research Advisor at the Kolmar Korea Company. He was Professor of Marine Biochemistry at the Department of Marine Bio Convergence Science and Technology and was also Director of the Marine Bioprocess Research Center at the Pukyong National University, South Korea. After receiving his Ph.D. from Pukyong National University, he joined the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (USA), as Postdoctoral Researcher. From 1999-2000, he was Visiting Professor at the Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada. His research has been published in more than 650 original papers, 70 books, and he holds 120 patents.