@Article{JRM.2012.634105,
AUTHOR = {Sebastián Muñoz-Guerra, Montserrat García-Alvarez, José A. Portilla-Arias},
TITLE = {Chemical Modifi cation of Microbial Poly(γ-glutamic acid):  Progress and Perspectives},
JOURNAL = {Journal of Renewable Materials},
VOLUME = {1},
YEAR = {2013},
NUMBER = {1},
PAGES = {42--60},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/jrm/v1n1/49678},
ISSN = {2164-6341},
ABSTRACT = {Poly(γ-glutamic acid) (PGGA) is an edible polypeptide excreted by certain bacteria that is presently accessible 
on a semi-industrial scale. Chemically, it is a nylon 4 derivative bearing a carboxylic side group attached to 
the fourth carbon of the repeating unit. Although this biopolymer is being exploited in the food, agriculture 
and cosmetic sectors, its use in massive applications as packaging or coating is still unknown mainly due 
to its instability in wet environments and unsuitability to be processed by common techniques. Chemical 
modifi cation of PGGA involving esterifi cation or amidation of the carboxylic group is the approach explored 
the most to obtain materials with potential interest as fi bers, fi lms or hydrogels. Electrostatic coupling of PGGA 
with hydrophobic cationic species may also be profi ted to generate non-water-soluble stable derivatives. On 
the other hand, the interest of modifi ed PGGA as a functionalized biomaterial for scaffold and drug delivery 
has increased incredibly in the last years. This paper summarizes the progress in the methodology available 
for synthesizing PGGA derivatives, the relevant features of the new materials that are synthesized, and the 
most outstanding advances achieved in the biomedical fi eld when modifi ed PGGA is used.},
DOI = {10.7569/JRM.2012.634105}
}