Potential Agricultural Uses of Micro/Nano Encapsulated Chitosan: A Review

Chitosan is a non-toxic, biodegradable, and biocompatible natural biopolymer widely used as a nanocarrier, emulsifier, flocculant, and antimicrobial agent with potential applications in industry. Recently, chitosan has been used as an encapsulating agent for bioactive plant compounds and agrochemicals by different technologies, such as spray-drying and nanoemulsions, to enhance antimicrobial activity. Chitosan nanocomposites have been shown to increase potential biocidal, antibacterial, and antifungal activity against pathogens, presenting higher stability, decreasing degradation, and prolonging the effective concentration of these bioactive compounds. Therefore, the objective of this work is to review the most outstanding aspects of the most recent developments in the different methods of encapsulation of bioactive compounds (phenolic compounds, essential oils, among others) from plants, as well as the applications on phytopathogenic diseases (fungi and bacteria) in vitro and in vivo in cereal, fruit and vegetable crops. These perspectives could provide information for the future formulation of products with high efficacy against phytopathogenic diseases as an alternative to chemical products for sustainable agriculture.