Hydrogels, as biological materials, are widely used in
food, tissue
engineering, and biomedical applications. Nevertheless, many issues
remain in the preparation of hydrogels by physical and chemical methods,
such as low bioaffinity, weak mechanical properties, and unstable
structures, which also limit their applications in other fields. However,
the enzymatic cross-linking method has the advantages of high catalytic
efficiency, mild reaction conditions, and the presence of nontoxic
substances. In this review, we evaluated the chemical, physical, and
biological methods of preparing hydrogels and introduced three common
cross-linking enzymes and their principles for preparing hydrogels.
This review introduced the applications and properties of hydrogels
prepared by the enzymatic method and also provided some suggestions
regarding the current situation and future development of hydrogels
prepared by enzymatic cross-linking.