1. Chitosan 60 FG

From Promecens (manufacturer) COA

Identity: Chitosan 60 FG, Chitosan Oligosaccharide Lactate, fungal source (Agaricus Bisporous mushroom), CAS 148411-57-8, mfg. Jan 2026, exp. Dec 2028, lot PRM/CHT-60FG/01/01-2026.

Degree of deacetylation: 98.67 % (spec ≥ 95 %).

Purity: 99.13 % (spec 98.0–99.5 %).

Zeta potential: +59.77 mV (spec +55–65 mV).

pH (1 % aq.): 4.48; viscosity (1 % aq., 30 °C): 6.59 cSt — confirms low-MW oligosaccharide.

Solubility: completely water-soluble at RT; heavy metals (as Pb): NIL.

Insolubles in water: 0.01 %.

From the independent third-party lab (Venture Center, CSIR-NCL)

Sample 260504_CTAB/CHL1/04-26 measured by ELS, water, 25 °C, 3 runs on NanoBrook 90 Plus Zeta.

Replicate zeta potentials: +65.28, +50.53, +56.03 mV.

Mean: +57.28 mV · Std Dev: 7.46 mV.

Electrophoretic mobility 4.48 (µ/s)/(V/cm); conductivity 3,504 µS.

Chitosan 60 FG is a third-party-verified, strongly cationic (+59 mV, lab-confirmed), fungal-source, high-DDA oligosaccharide lactate — the most biologically interesting chitosan in the entire Chitosan Global line. Charge persistence from pH 2–12 + low-MW + oligosaccharide profile makes this unique in the world of chitosan derivatives. With that pH range intrinsic to this chitosan, the formula graduates from “stomach + proximal small intestine adsorbent” to a whole-gut cationic adsorbent — binding bile acids, endotoxin, and anionic pathogens in the ileum and colon while feeding SCFA-producing commensals. Paired with a separately dosed (or deliberately composited) food-grade montmorillonite, this becomes a coherent, mechanism-supported two-front gut-microbiome support for both people and animals.

2. Why the charge-retention superpower matters

The anatomical argument

Standard unmodified chitosan has a pKa around 6.3–6.5, so it is fully protonated only below roughly pH 5–6. Above that it progressively deprotonates, loses charge, becomes insoluble — and is functionally inert by the time it reaches the ileum and colon, the exact locations where:

the densest microbiota lives, most bile-acid reabsorption occurs,

Salmonella / E. coli overgrowth happens in stressed animals, endotoxin (LPS) translocation risk is highest.

If a chitosan grade retains strong positive charge through pH 8, it stays electrostatically active across the entire small AND large intestine — converting it from a stomach-phase ingredient into a whole-gut adsorbent. This is mechanistically well established for quaternized chitosans (HTCC, TMC), which “always remain positively charged and are soluble at all physiological pH” (Pathak et al., Polymers 2021; Teotia et al., 2023). The Chitosan 60 FG COA shows a +59.77 mV / 6.59 cps oligosaccharide.

3. What whole-gut cationic character enables downstream of the stomach

Assume (pending the pH sweep) the charge does persist to pH 6–8. The consequences are large:

a) Bile-acid and lipid binding in the ileum

Cationic polymer + anionic bile salt → fecal bile-acid excretion rises, enterohepatic recycling is interrupted, and less cholesterol is reabsorbed. The downstream effect: the bile-acid pool reaching the colon is altered, which directly reshapes the microbial community (bile acids are potent antimicrobials and signaling molecules that select for Bile Salt Hydrolase-positive taxa like Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium). Demonstrated in rat and in-vitro GI models with

chitin/chitosan/chitooligosaccharides: Kanauchi et al., Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 1994; Xu et al., Food Bioscience 2020; Panith et al., LWT 2016.

b) Endotoxin (LPS) binding — immediately after the stomach

Gram-negative LPS is highly anionic; cationic chitosan binds and neutralizes it (Haitao et al., Front Immunol 2022; Liu et al., Int J Nanomedicine 2025). Charge retention at pH 6–8 means this endotoxin-sponge function operates in the distal small bowel and colon, where leaky-gut and LPS-driven inflammation concentrate.

c) Whole-intestine pathogen agglutination

Standard chitosan acts mainly in the stomach itself because that’s where it’s still protonated; a charge-stable chitosan keeps agglutinating Salmonella / E. coli / Clostridium all the way through the ileum and colon — i.e., in the exact regions where weaning-pig diarrhea and poultry heat-stress pathogen blooms occur. This matches the published inclusion-rate guidance for Chitosan 60 FG in swine diets (Chitosan Global, swine inclusion report).

d) Mucoadhesion and longer retention

Cationic surfaces stick electrostatically to negatively charged mucins (sialic / sulfated groups). Chitosan-coated systems show strong GI retention at pH 5.8–6.8 (Tan, Univ. Nottingham 2020); colon-targeted mucoadhesive chitosan constructs are an active research area (Mahanti & Haque 2026). A chitosan that stays cationic longer stays stuck to the mucosa longer — prolonging prebiotic exposure and antimicrobial coverage throughout transit.

e) Additional domestic-microbiome implications

Because the polymer is in the colon where fermentation happens:

It becomes a fermentation substrate itself → SCFA producers (Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus,

Faecalibacterium, Roseburia) are enriched; butyrate/acetate rise; pH drops (Fatahi et al., Diabetol Metab Syndr 2025 — adolescent RCT; Bai et al., Front Microbiol 2025; Chen et al., Food Funct 2022).

It displaces Gram-negative overgrowth by selectively agglutinating them (LPS-rich anionic outer membranes) while Lactobacillus tolerance is documented (Edo et al., Designed Monomers & Polymers 2025).

4. How montmorillonite fits with this updated picture

The clay half of the formula benefits, not changes, under the charge-retention hypothesis:

 Montmorillonite binds mycotoxins and bulky pathogens in its interlayer — charge-independent mechanism; works at all intestinal pH; protects tight junctions (Romero et al., Toxicology 2016); reduces Campylobacter in layers (Prasai et al., PLOS ONE 2016); beneficial caecal shifts in broilers with diatomite–bentonite (Węsierska et al., BMC Vet Res 2025) and pullets with palygorskite (Chalvatzi et al., J Appl Microbiol 2016); clinical narrative in humans (Ng et al., Cureus 2025); comprehensive review (Damato et al., Front Vet Sci 2022).

 Formulation rule — keep them apart, or build them on purpose. Montmorillonite surfaces are anionic; a strongly cationic chitosan will spontaneously flocculate and partially neutralize both if you mix them casually. Either (i) dose separately in time (clay with meals, chitosan between meals), or (ii) deliberately composite as chitosan-coated clay — a demonstrated intestinal-delivery configuration (Jiao et al., J Anim Sci Biotechnol 2017).

The clay is bigger and bulkier for macroscopic binding (mycotoxins, food-borne toxins), while the chitosan is precise and small for molecular binding (LPS, bile salts, free fatty acids, mucosal adhesion, individual bacteria). They make a poor cocktail if mixed at random; they make a powerful two-front defense if separated or composited.

5. Evidence ledger

6. Caveats

1. Don’t pre-mix the clay and chitosan. Electrostatic flocculation cancels both mechanisms. Dose them apart or composite on purpose.
2. Confirm sample identity between the COA and the VC report. COA lot = PRM/CHT-60FG/01/012026. VC report sample ID = 260504_CTAB/CHL1/04-26. Ask Promecens to confirm whether the VC report was run on the same COA lot.
3. Clay still needs its own food-grade COA. Heavy metals are cleared for the chitosan; the montmorillonite side must independently clear As/Cd/Hg/lead and dioxin screening before any human or animal claim.
4. Dose discipline. Even an oligosaccharide can suppress beneficial taxa at high dose (Zhang et al., Front Microbiol 2018) — follow species-specific label rates.