Abstract:Chitosan is widely used as a coating agent in food industry，and its rheological properties are a key factor in the coating process.The rheological behaviors with shear rates of 0-300 s-1of chitosan film-forming solution with different molecular weights，degree of deacetylation and concentration were considered.The results showed that chitosan solution exhibited closed hysteresis loops with a small lagging area indicating a strong recovery capacity.The viscosity of chitosan increased with the increase of molecular weight and concentration and the decrease of degree of deacetylation.At lower molecular weight and concentration，the chitosan film-forming solution exhibited shear thickening characteristics.Increasing the concentration and molecular weight would promote the transition of the film-forming solution from the dilatant fluid to pseudoplastic fluid.