Characterization of salicylic acid loaded chitosan microparticles with applications in horticultural plant species: A second life for shrimp fishing industry waste

MERARI TUMIN CHEVALIER; CASALONGUE, CA; SERGIO MARTIN-SALDAÑA; SILVANA COLMAN; ALBERTO ANTONIO CHEVALIER ; MARIA JOSÉ IGLESIAS; VERA ALEJANDRA ALVAREZ

Congreso; XIV Congreso Iberoamericano de Polímeros (CIP 2018); 2018

Chitosan (CS) is the second most abundant polysaccharide in nature and it is a deacetylated derivative of chitin found mainly in the exoskeletons of crustaceans1. Shrimp fishing industry wastes are still a main problem with high environmental impact worldwide. In this study, chitosan was obtained from shrimp fishing industry waste from Argentinian Patagonia. CS based microparticles capable to entrap salycilic acid (SA), a phytohormone known to play major role in the regulation of plant defense response against various pathogens. Unloaded microparticles and microparticles loading different SA amount were fully characterized in terms of size, shape, EE% and FTIR, TGA, DSC and salicylic acid release. Chitosan based microparticles were nontoxic in the most doses applied in lettuce seedlings. Instead, microparticles can positively modelate the plant growth and have the potential to improve plant defense responses. In particular, SA loaded microparticles effect wasvery promising for its application as activators of SA dependent plant defense responses in crop species.