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Wikipedia says

Antibody opsonization is the process by which a pathogen is marked for ingestion and eliminated by a phagocyte. Opsonization involves the binding of an opsonin, e.g., antibody, to an epitope on an antigen. After opsonin binds to the membrane, phagocytes are attracted to the pathogen.

But why is it necessary for pathogen to bind with opsonin? Can't phagocytes attracted towards pathogen without opsonization? Simply I want to know what is significance of opsonization?

AksaK
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    In this process a number of pathogens are already inactivated due to the antibody (the most common opsonin) binding. This is highly important for substances which occur only in very small amounts, but still have a great effect as the tetanus toxin. Here the protective effect of the vaccination comes from highly specific antibodies. The toxin in an infection acts not as a immunogen, since its concentration is too low for that - but enough for the toxic effect. – Chris Dec 04 '16 at 16:35

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