Cosmetic, Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Applications of Fish Gelatin/Hydrolysates

Abstract

There are several reviews that separately cover different aspects of fish gelatin including its preparation, characteristics, modifications, and applications. Its packaging application in food industry is extensively covered but other applications are not covered or covered alongside with those of collagen. This review is comprehensive, specific to fish gelatin/hydrolysate and cites recent research. It covers cosmetic applications, intrinsic activities, and biomedical applications in wound dressing and wound healing, gene therapy, tissue engineering, implants, and bone substitutes. It also covers its pharmaceutical applications including manufacturing of capsules, coating of microparticles/oils, coating of tablets, stabilization of emulsions and drug delivery (microspheres, nanospheres, scaffolds, microneedles, and hydrogels). The main outcomes are that fish gelatin is immunologically safe, protects from the possibility of transmission of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and foot and mouth diseases, has an economic and environmental benefits, and may be suitable for those that practice religious-based food restrictions, i.e., people of Muslim, Jewish and Hindu faiths. It has unique rheological properties, making it more suitable for certain applications than mammalian gelatins. It can be easily modified to enhance its mechanical properties. However, extensive research is still needed to characterize gelatin hydrolysates, elucidate the Structure Activity Relationship (SAR), and formulate them into dosage forms. Additionally, expansion into cosmetic applications and drug delivery is needed.

Physicochemical and Antioxidant Properties of Gelatin and Gelatin Hydrolysates Obtained from Extrusion-Pretreated Fish (Oreochromis sp.) Scales

“…Furthermore, it was previously demonstrated that among the antioxidative peptides obtained from the enzymatic hydrolysates of tuna dark muscle by-product, Tyr, Pro, Glu and Asp were the key variables correlated with antioxidant activity [ 44 ]. Gelatin subfractions with peptides containing large amounts of Arg, Tyr, and Phe are also thought to possess higher antioxidant activity [ 12 ]. In addition, the presence of acidic amino Glu in the peptides could induce strong antioxidant effects, as a free electron is available for interaction with free radicals [ 45 ].…”

“…Fish by-products offer a number of advantages for the production of gelatin, such as proven safety and wide availability. Gelatins containing lower molecular weight peptides such as gelatin hydrolysates have been shown to exhibit greater biological activities [ 12 ]. Furthermore, gelatin hydrolysates are valued in the food and pharmaceutical industries due to their ability to benefit various aspects of health, such as reduce oxidation and mitigate hypertension.…”

Design and Assessment of Biodegradable Macroporous Cryogels as Advanced Tissue Engineering and Drug Carrying Materials

“…Various types of gelatin are used, including bovine gelatin [ 107 ], porcine gelatin [ 106 ] and piscine gelatin [ 27 ]. Piscine gelatin has a different amino acid content and a lower melting point [ 113 ], which results in the formation of cryogels of different mechanical strength and degree of swelling compared to porcine or bovine cryogels. It is also believed to have a low potential for the transmission of infectious agents such as viruses and prions, and is therefore widely used to form cryogels; in particular, cold fish gelatin is mainly used [ 25 , 27 , 28 , 50 ].…”

Progress of 3D Bioprinting in Organ Manufacturing

“…Its water solution is a hydrocolloid with high freezing point, rapid degradation rate, low gel strength, and poor mechanical properties. As a natural polymer, gelatin has many advantages for organ 3D printing, such as excellent biocompatibility, physical gelation property, and low cost [ 66 , 67 ].…”