UNAIR NEWS – Prof. Dr. Dra. Retno Sari, M.Sc., Apt, a lecturer of the Faculty of Pharmacy Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR), was overcome with emotions during the inauguration of professors. The inauguration in the Garuda Mukti Hall on Wednesday, October 27, 2021, conferred Prof. Dr. Dra. Retno Sari, M.Sc., Apt. as Professor of Pharmaceutics Universitas Airlangga.
The woman born in Malang on August 10, 1963, has devoted herself as a lecturer since 1989. Prof. Retno has published 25 articles in international journals and seven articles in national publications.
Through her speech, Prof. Retno conveyed the Potential and Application of Chitosan as a Biomaterial in the Field of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Technology. She described the immense and strategic potential of marine resources in Indonesia to be developed.
“The potential for fisheries in Indonesia is the largest in the world where one of the marine economic sectors is the fishery product processing industry. Indonesia is an exporting country for around 90 thousand tons of headless shell-on shrimp and 4000 tons of crabs annually,” she explained.
“This number potentially produces 13,000 tons of shrimp and crab shells per year to be processed into chitin and its derivatives, chitosan,” explained Prof. Retno.
Highlighting the explanation of Prof. Retno, chitin is the main structure of crustaceans that can be used in the food industry, biotechnology, pharmacy, medicine, and the environment. Chitin is the second most abundant polysaccharide after cellulose.
“Chitin produces chitosan, which is a good, compatible, and nontoxic biopolymer that can be digested in a biological environment,” said Prof Retno in her speech.
“Therefore, the use of Chitosan in the biomedical field is very potential. Chitosan is widely used in the pharmaceutical field, including as a carrier, binder, tablet disintegrant, carrier for sustained release preparations, and targeted delivery systems,” she continued.
In addition, there are many applications of chitosan in the biomedical field. Based on Prof. Retno’s explanation, it can be applied “as a wound-healing material through the ability of chitosan to form phyla such as hydrogel which is important for wound dressing,” explained the lecturer of the Faculty of Pharmacy.
In the end of her speech, Prof. Retno said that the use of chitosan in the pharmaceutical and biomedical fields is potential to develop drug delivery systems and biomedicine. It aligns with SDG 14, “Life below Water” with conservation and sustainable use of marine and oceanic resources.
Author: Zahwa E. Bella
Editor: Khefti Al Mawalia
