Green approaches for extraction, chemical modification and processing of marine polysaccharides for biomedical applications

Abstract

Over the past few decades, natural-origin polysaccharides have received increasing attention across different fields of application, including biomedicine and biotechnology, because of their specific physicochemical and biological properties that have afforded the fabrication of a plethora of multifunctional devices for healthcare applications. More recently, marine raw materials from fisheries and aquaculture have emerged as a highly sustainable approach to convert marine biomass into added-value polysaccharides for human benefit. Nowadays, significant efforts have been made to combine such circular bio-based approach with cost-effective and environmentally-friendly technologies that enable the isolation of marine-origin polysaccharides up to the final construction of a biomedical device, thus developing an entirely sustainable pipeline. In this regard, the present review intends to provide an up-to-date outlook on the current green extraction methodologies of marine-origin polysaccharides and their molecular engineering toolbox for designing a multitude of biomaterial platforms for healthcare. Furthermore, we discuss how to foster circular bio-based approaches to pursue the further development of added-value biomedical devices, while preserving the marine ecosystem.

Seaweed: a sustainable solution for greening drug manufacturing in the pursuit of sustainable healthcare

“…From sustainable cultivation practices to carbon sequestration, reduced chemical inputs, minimal water usage, eco-friendly extraction techniques, biodiversity conservation, and waste utilization, seaweed offers numerous opportunities for the pharmaceutical industry to embrace more sustainable and environmentally friendly practices. Incorporating seaweed into drug manufacturing processes contributes to greener and more sustainable healthcare systems while reducing the ecological impact of pharmaceutical production [52,53].…”

Chitosan-Based Biomaterials: Insights into Chemistry, Properties, Devices, and Their Biomedical Applications

“…CHT’s main source is seafood industry waste [ 27 ], which has been increasing over recent years, and together with the circular economy and waste reuse strategies is supporting the CHT market [ 28 ]. CHT is obtained after the deacetylation of chitin found in crustaceans’ exoskeleton, mainly shrimps, crabs, krill, squids (bone plate) and lobsters.…”

Unveiling the Assembly of Neutral Marine Polysaccharides into Electrostatic-Driven Layer-by-Layer Bioassemblies by Chemical Functionalization

“…In fact, an unlimited number of charged materials, including biomolecules such as marine polysaccharides [ 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ], proteins [ 21 ], enzymes [ 22 , 23 ], nucleic acids [ 24 ], or growth factors [ 25 ], which have limited solubility in nonaqueous solutions and may lose their biological activity, have been processed into electrostatic-driven functional multilayered assemblies for addressing a wide variety of biomedical and biotechnological applications. In particular, marine polysaccharides, which are widely discarded as waste in the processing of marine organisms, are particularly attractive ingredients for enabling the assembly of sustainable biomaterials in an LbL fashion owing to their very appealing features [ 26 ]. Those include their biocompatibility, biodegradability, non-toxicity, non-immunogenic, antitumoral and anticoagulant properties, chemical versatility, and wide availability [ 27 , 28 ].…”