Chitosan chemistry review for living organisms encapsulation.

Microencapsulation is an emerging process in which an active substance is entrapped in a homogeneous or heterogeneous matrix to form capsules. This technique allows reducing the adverse effects of the external environment on encapsulated compounds, ensuring their stability through manipulation and transport besides enabling their controlled release. Microencapsulation is particularly suitable to protect sensitive materials such as living organisms, thus providing them an appropriate environment to behave and act as if they were in their natural habitat.