Biological Activities of Marine Biopolymers

Abstract

Nowadays, the largest part of marine biopolymers is extracted from biomass, such as marine polysaccharides from cellulose and marine proteins from collagen; marine biopolymers can also be formed from biomonomers using traditional chemical processes as polylactic acid, directly in marine microorganisms and genetically modified marine micro/macroorganisms. This chapter addresses marine biopolymers and their biological activities mostly carried out during the past few decades. The greatest typical polysaccharides in the marine environment are alginate, agar, carrageenans, and chitin. In fact, the search for new natural sulfated polysaccharides with significant antithrombotic action and anticoagulant is an attractive alternative for the traditional heparin usage in medicine, and there are many reports of other sulfated compounds from marine origin, such as heparin and fucans, being investigated. It is envisaged that biomedical field will be an area in which marine-derived polymers will have a part of major relevance, in particular with their use on tissue regeneration and tissue repair.