Table 1.

Summary of the different protein and polysaccharide-based biomaterials, their sources, main properties, structural forms used in biomedicine and biomedical applications.

Material	Source	Properties	Structures	Biomedical Applications
Collagen	Natural ECM or recombinant	Weakly immunogenic Cross-linked to increase strength, stability Cell binding	Scaffolds Sponges Hydrogels Films/membranes Bioinks	Tissue repair [34,35,36,37,38] Wound care [39,40,41] Drug delivery [42,43,44,45]
Gelatine	Bovine or porcine collagen	Biocompatible Biodegradable Cross-linked to increase strength, stability Cell binding	Microparticles	Drug delivery [46,47,48,49,50,51,52] Tissue regeneration [53]
Silk	Butterflies/moths, spiders or recombinant	High strength-to-density Insoluble in water Highly stable	Films Woven meshes	Wound dressings [22,54,55] Suturing [56,57] Device coatings [58,59]
Cellulose	Plants, bacteria	Biocompatible Combine stiffness and flexibility Tuneable properties	Nanofibres Gels Nanocrystals	Tissue engineering [60,61] Artificial blood vessels [62,63,64] Drug delivery [65,66,67] Wound repair [68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77]
Chitosan	Exoskeleton of crustaceans; plant cell envelopes	Rigid structure Insoluble in water Biodegradable Antimicrobial Versatile	Films Fibres Scaffolds Hydrogels Nanoparticles	Wound healing [78] Anti-microbial coatings [79,80] Drug delivery [81,82,83,84]
Alginate	Brown algae	Widely available Inexpensive Biodegradable Excellent gelating	Hydrogels Sponges Films Microparticles	Wound healing [85,86,87,88,89] Drug delivery [90,91,92,93,94,95] Tissue engineering [94,96,97,98,99,100]