The versatility of collagen and chitosan: From food to biomedical applications

Biodegradable polymers obtained from renewable resources, such as chitosan and collagen, are sustainable alternatives to develop environmentally friendly materials. Due to their abundance, biocompatibility and antimicrobial properties, chitosan and collagen could become a suitable source for food and biomedical applications. In particular, chitosan formulations are used for food packaging purposes to develop intelligent packaging with the aim of providing information about the quality of the packaged product or to prepare active packaging and extend food shelf life. In this regard, chitosan nanoparticles can be used to provide a sustained release of active substances. Regarding collagen, denatured collagen or gelatin is prevalently used in food industry as a food additive, microencapsulating agent or biodegradable packaging material due to its rheological properties and physical versatility. In turn, collagen-derived peptides have revealed antioxidant and antihypertensive activity, among other health beneficial effects for cosmetic and nutraceutical applications. Additionally, collagen is widely used in tissue engineering, also combined with chitosan, to achieve the functional properties required for specific applications in the biomedical field. In this sense, collagen/chitosan scaffolds have been used for bone, cartilage and skin regeneration. This research in the design and processing of materials based on proteins and polysaccharides is leading to great advances in food and biomedical fields.