Abstract
Chitosan is a naturally occurring compound and is commercially produced from seafood shells. It has been utilized in the induction of the defense system in both pre and post-harvest fruits and vegetables against fungi, bacteria, viruses, and other abiotic stresses. In addition to that, chitosan effectively improves the physiological properties of plants and also enhances the shelf life of post-harvest produces. Moreover, chitosan treatment regulates several genes in plants, particularly the activation of plant defense signaling pathways. That includes the elicitation of phytoalexins and pathogenesis-related (PR) protein. Besides that, chitosan has been employed in soil as a plant nutrient and has shown great efficacy in combination with other industrial fertilizers without affecting the soil’s beneficial microbes. Furthermore, it is helpful in reducing the fertilizer losses due to its coating ability, which is important in keeping the environmental pollution under check. Based on exhibiting such excellent properties, there is a striking interest in using chitosan biopolymers in agriculture systems. Therefore, our current review has been centered upon the multiple roles of chitosan in horticultural crops that could be useful in future crop improvement programs.
Highlights
Chitosan has been one of the most preferred biopolymers due to its biocompatibility, antioxidant, anticancer, biodegradability, antimicrobial, and non-toxic properties as well as being an economical material, produced from waste resources such as seafood shells [1,2,3]
The improvement of the defense system after applying chitin and chitosan, both in monocotyledon and dicotyledons is the center of addressing this biopolymer in multi-research area [16]
Chirkov et al [77] reported that application of chitosan on potato plants infected with potato virus X (PVX) showed resistance to PVX
Summary
Chitosan has been one of the most preferred biopolymers due to its biocompatibility, antioxidant, anticancer, biodegradability, antimicrobial, and non-toxic properties as well as being an economical material, produced from waste resources such as seafood shells [1,2,3]. Chitosan research is increasing due to its significant diverse uses in several fields of life i.e., plant sciences [6,7,8,9] and medical sciences [10]. The presence of amine groups on chitosan makes it prone to structural modifications resulting in a functional derivative of chitin [10]. The chitosan is largely used to mimic biotic and abiotic stresses. The improvement of the defense system after applying chitin and chitosan, both in monocotyledon and dicotyledons is the center of addressing this biopolymer in multi-research area [16]. We present the utilization of chitosan in coping with biotic and abiotic stresses, improving the physiological attributes of plants, post-harvest quality of fruits and vegetables, and reducing the use of inorganic fertilizer
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