A review of bio-based dialdehyde polysaccharides as multifunctional building blocks for biomedical and food science applications

Food science and biomedical engineering are key disciplines related to human health, with the development of functional materials being an important research direction in both fields. In recent years, dialdehyde polysaccharides (DAPs), as green biopolymers, have become increasingly important in functional materials within food science and biomedical engineering. This work systematically summarizes the sources and properties of various DAPs, introduces their preparation methods and common DAP-based functional biomaterials, including hydrogels, scaffolds, films, coatings, nanoparticles, and nanofibers. Importantly, this work also reviews DAP applications in functional materials for food science and biomedical engineering, such as drug delivery, wound dressings, tissue engineering, food packaging films/edible coatings, food emulsions, antibacterial nanoparticles, and enzyme immobilization. Finally, the work briefly discusses the biosafety of DAPs. To conclude, this study provides a toolkit for developing functional materials in these fields and offers important reference value regarding the broad application of DAPs.