TY - CHAP AU - Richard A. Cunha AU - Thereza A. Soares AU - Victor H. Rusu AU - Frederico J.S. Pontes AU - Eduardo F. Franca AU - Roberto D. Lins ED - Desiree Nedra Karunaratne Y1 - 2012-10-31 PY - 2012 T1 - The Molecular Structure and Conformational Dynamics of Chitosan Polymers: An Integrated Perspective from Experiments and Computational Simulations N2 - The complex world of polysaccharides is a compilation of the characteristics of a variety of polysaccharides from plants, animals and microorganisms. The diversity of these polysaccharides arises from the structural variations and the monosaccharide content which is under genetic control. The chemical and physical properties have made them useful in many pharmaceutical, food and industrial applications. These properties of the polysaccharides determine their biological activity and their function in various applications. The role played by polysaccharides in preservation and protection of food, as carriers of nutrients and drugs, their ability to interact with molecules both for efficient delivery as well as improving textures of food colloids and their use as therapeutics are some of the functions discussed. BT - The Complex World of Polysaccharides SP - Ch. 9 UR - https://doi.org/10.5772/51803 DO - 10.5772/51803 SN - PB - IntechOpen CY - Rijeka Y2 - 2024-04-26 ER -