A Future Perspective in Crop Protection: Chitosan and its Oligosaccharides

Abstract

Abstract Chitosan and its oligosaccharides have received much interest for potential application in agriculture, biomedicine and biotechnology due to their biocompatibility, biodegradability and bioactivity. Synthetic bactericide treatment has been the main method for controlling diseases, there is a growing international concern over the indiscriminate use of synthetic compounds on crops because of the possible harmful effects on human health and the emergence of pathogen resistance to bactericides. Thus there is a worldwide trend to explore new alternatives in order to reduce the use of synthetic chemical agents. This review focuses on the biological activities of chitosan and its oligosaccharides based on the latest research results. Among the novel families of biological macromolecules, whose relevance is increased in research, are chitosan and chitooligosaccharides (COS). Both become a promising alternative treatment due to its antimicrobial activity. They have a wide scope of application in the food, pharmaceutical, agricultural industries. COS are known to have eliciting activities leading to a variety of defence responses in plants in response to microbial infections to reduce the negative impact of diseases on yield and quality of crops. This review reiterates the properties and uses of chitosan and its oligosaccharides, and focuses on their applications on plant bacterial infections.