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

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.

Automated summary

Natural-origin polysaccharides have gained increasing attention in various fields due to their specific properties, and marine raw materials have emerged as a sustainable approach for producing value-added polysaccharides. Efforts have been made to combine circular bio-based approaches with cost-effective and environmentally-friendly technologies for the isolation and development of marine-origin polysaccharides for biomedical devices. This review provides an up-to-date outlook on the green extraction methodologies and molecular engineering tools for designing biomaterial platforms, as well as discusses the importance of circular bio-based approaches and marine ecosystem preservation.