Abstract

Biopolymer such as chitosan is more favoured as a drug carrier in particular to the brain due to its potential to cross the blood brain barrier. This study is a comparative assessment of the extraction of chitosan from natural sources such as mushroom, crab and shrimp using alkali method pursued by physicochemical assays that surmise the excellence of the biopolymer in permeating a central nervous system drug. Commercially, chitosan extracted from crustaceans have been widely used but this study revealed that mushrooms are also a good source for chitosan. An in silico assay enumerates the structural affiliation of the polymer and its binding efficiency. Molecular docking study facilitates to attest the brain targeting efficiency of chitosan on disparity with sodium alginate against the efflux permeability glycoprotein furnishing a minimum binding affinity energy values of -37.2 kcal/mol. The pharmacologically significant descriptors propose a low solubility that avoids the untargeted discharge of drug. Chitosan extracted from a rich protein source such as mushroom in a mild alkaline condition with a high degree of deacetylation has freer amine groups can act as a drug by itself and can readily bind with a drug as a carrier. The synchronised work of biopolymer extraction with that of in silico analysis can further take chitosan as a lead compound for brain drug development and targeting studies.