Propiedades químico-estructurales y actividad biológica de la quitosana en microorganismos fitopatógenos

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the published research about chitosan, which is the deacetylated form of chitin, a natural biodegradable compound derived from crustaceous shells whose major attributes corresponds to its polycationic nature. This review points out its chemical and structural characteristics, obtainment methods, antimicrobial activity and its action mode. The potential of chitosan to induce a series of defence reactions correlated with certain enzymatic activities carried out by PAL, β-1,3-glucanase, chitinase and chitosanase is also reviewed.