Chitosan, a deacetylated derivative of chitin, is found in crustacean, arthropod, shell fish and shrimp shell as well as cell walls of some fungi . The objective of this research was to investigate the antimicrobial property of chitosan and possibility of its use as a natural preservative in mayonnaise. In this study, chitosan was produced by chemical method from shrimp shell. The antimicrobial activities of chitosan against Salmonella enteritidis and Lactobacillus plantarum were explored by calculation of the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) in media supplemented with 0.1, 0.2 , 0.3, ..., 0.9 , 1 mg/ml chitosan adjusted to pH 5 or 6 . The MIC and MBC of chitosan differed with pH and bacterial type, ranging from 0.4 to 1 mg/ml. Antibacterial activity of chitosan was inversely affected by pH, with higher activity at lower pH value. The sauce containing 0.1, 0.2 or 0.3% chitosan was inoculated with 10⁶ CFU/gr S. enteritidis or L. plantarum and stored at 5°C and 25°C for 8 days. The inhibitory effect of chitosan concentration was increased from 0.1 to 0.3%. This investigation demonstrated that 0.2% chitosan can be used in mayonnaise as a new preservative.

Keywords: Chitosan, Chitin, Preservative, Mayonnaise.

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