The Effect of Chitosan Nanoparticles on Escherichia coli Viability in Drinking Water Disinfection
12th Eastern Young Water Professionals Conference “Water Research and Innovations in a Digital Era”: Book of Abstracts 2021
Viktorija Deņisova, Linda Mežule

Chlorination is the most often used drinking water disinfection technique in developed countries which has shown to be effective against a wide variety of pathogenic microorganisms, easily applicable and low cost. However, it has several disadvantages, like, unfavourable taste and odour, ineffectiveness against resistant microorganisms, such as Giardia and Cryptosporidium, and can form potentially toxic disinfection by-products, such as trihalomethanes and haloacetic acids. Therefore, it is still important to develop effective antimicrobial techniques and agents. Chitosan has been highlighted as a potential compound in drinking water disinfection due to its native antimicrobial properties, and low or no toxicity risk for human health. Chitosan is a linear polysaccharide consisting of randomly distributed β-(1→4)-linked D-glusamine and N-acetyl-D-glucosamine units and is produced by deacetylation of chitin, which is extracted from the exoskeleton of crustaceans such as shrimps and crabs, as well from the cell walls of fungi, insects and yeasts. It is the second most abundant biopolymer with non-toxic, biocompatible, biodegradable, and antimicrobial properties with numerous applications in food, cosmetic, biomedical and agricultural areas. Due to these properties, in the present study, chitosan nanoparticles (CNs) were investigated as a potential applicable and an alternative antimicrobial agent in drinking water disinfection. The effect of CNs was assessed by determining the inactivation rate of faecal indicator Escherichia coli viability.


Keywords
Chitosan nanoparticles; Escherichia coli; antibacterial activity; drinking water; disinfection

Deņisova, V., Mežule, L. The Effect of Chitosan Nanoparticles on Escherichia coli Viability in Drinking Water Disinfection. In: 12th Eastern Young Water Professionals Conference “Water Research and Innovations in a Digital Era”: Book of Abstracts, Latvia, Riga, 31 Mar-2 Apr., 2021. Riga: Riga Technical University, 2021, pp.82-83.

Publication language
English (en)
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