Degree of deacetylation (DD) is one of the main parameters characterizing chitosan. The most precise measurements of DD require sophisticated equipment (NMR spectrometer), not available at many laboratories worldwide working on chitosan. There is a need for low-cost, simple, yet sturdy and reliable methods and procedures for DD determination. The aim of this work was to test and compare – on the same set of chitosan samples - a few of the existing analytical techniques and provide recommendation for selecting DD determination methods. Tests were performed on four chitosans of nominal DD in the range 70 - 95%. Three different methods of titration, two different methods of spectroscopy UV / Vis and infrared spectroscopy using various calculation approaches were used. The results are summarized and compared with values obtained by 1H NMR, considered as the reference method. Moreover, evaluation of the ease of performance and availability of reagents in the given methods was performed. On that basis, recommendations for selection of DD determination methods were formulated.
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