Chitosan for Eco-friendly Control of Plant Disease

Abstract

Due to the high environmental risk of chemical pesticides, biological control of plant diseases with bio-pesticides are highly encouraged and recommended. Chitosan and oligochitosan are the well-known biocontrol agents because of their nontoxic, biodegradable and biocompatible properties. Chitosan is considered the most abundant natural polymer with dual effect: Firstly it controls pathogenic microorganisms by preventing their growth and sporulation, reducing spore viability and germination and by disrupting their cell membrane. Secondly, it induce of different defense responses in host plants by inducing and/or inhibiting different biochemical activities during the plant-pathogen interaction. Chitosan has been assayed for controlling numerous pre and postharvest diseases of many crops. Chitosan also has the positive effect of enriching biodiversity in the rhizosphere. The meteorological effect on chitosan is little evaluated. For achieving the goal of sustainable agriculture, chitosan will become a popular plant protectant