Abstract The design and synthesis of biopolymer nano- and micro-formulations are a new trend with growing priority in scientific research and development in the fields of biomedicine, bioorganic/medicinal chemistry, pharmaceutics, agrochemistry and food industry. This incorporates a vast variety of improved and newly-developed analytical and physico-chemical techniques for green and efficient synthesis. The scope of the present review was to outline the recent advances in the methods for design of novel chitosan micro- and nano-carriers and transporters. Special emphasis is laid on their functionalities and capacity for encapsulation of natural bioactive compounds and controlled in vitro/in vivo release in various biological/physiological media. Expectations for the application of chitosan formulations and chitosan-based hybrid systems are progressively increasing as the knowledge regarding their physical, chemical and biological properties constantly expands. Thus, this review proposes insights on the objective assessment of the capacity, applicability and versatility of newly-designed chitosan-based hybrid systems. A detailed integrative approach, which incorporates the innovative scientific achievements based on complex novel, precise and reliable analytical procedures and methods for qualitative and quantitative morphological, structural, spectral, chemical and biochemical analyses of the bio-precursors and the designed chitosan-carrier micro/nano-hybrid systems, is applied. Sustainable knowledge on the mechanism and methods of natural bioactive substances encapsulation and in vitro/in vivo release is reviewed and discussed.

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21世纪壳聚糖在生物有机化学中的复兴

摘要 生物高分子纳米微制剂的设计与合成是生物医药、生物有机/药物化学、制药、农业化学和食品工业等领域科学研究和开发的新趋势。这结合了大量改进和新开发的分析和物理化学技术，用于绿色和高效的合成。本综述的范围是概述新型壳聚糖微纳米载体和转运蛋白设计方法的最新进展。特别强调它们在各种生物/生理介质中包裹天然生物活性化合物和控制体外/体内释放的功能和能力。随着关于壳聚糖制剂和基于壳聚糖的混合系统的物理、化学和生物特性的知识不断扩展，对壳聚糖制剂和基于壳聚糖的混合系统的应用的期望越来越高。因此，本综述提出了对新设计的基于壳聚糖的混合系统的容量、适用性和多功能性的客观评估的见解。一种详细的综合方法，它结合了基于复杂、新颖、精确和可靠的分析程序和方法的创新科学成果，用于对生物前体和设计的壳聚糖载体微量进行定性和定量的形态学、结构、光谱、化学和生化分析。纳米混合系统，应用。