Antibacterial and antifungal activity of alkylsulfonated chitosan

Novel alkylsulfonated chitosan, produced by alkylsulfonation, has become a water-soluble, anionic polymer due to the existence of hydrophilic alkylsulfonic acid group. The alkylsulfonic acid creates specific exchangeable cations, thereby increasing the antimicrobial effectiveness and skin tissue compatibility. Alkylsulfonated chitosan demonstrated outstanding microorganism inhibition against fungal reference strains of Malassezia furfur (BCRC 22243), Malassezia pachydermatis (BCRC 21676), Trichophyton rubrum (BCRC 32805), Trichophyton mentagrophytes (BCRC 32066), and Candida albicans (BCRC 20518), together with four different bacteria species of Escherichia coli (BCRC 11509), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (BCRC 11864), Staphylococcus aureus (BCRC 10781), and Propionibacterium acne (BCRC 10723). Meanwhile, our results indicate that alkylsulfonated chitosan works well in growth inhibition of microorganism strains tested at pH 5–6 and at pH 7.