# Marine Gelatine from Rest Raw Materials
## 4 Opportunities for Novel Applications of Fish Gelatine and Collagen  
Although gelatine has many applications in various industries, advances in food science, medicine and material science have yielded a number of novel applications. Due to its versatile physicochemical properties, high degree of biocompatibility and relatively low price, gelatine is an ideal material for numerous applications. Tissue engineering has been an emerging field of modern regenerative medicine. Collagen has historically been utilized in biomedical field in treatment of tissue injuries, due to its property to act as a hemostatic agent. After discovery of its regenerative properties, it was applied in 3D cultures for use in regenerative medicine [80]. There has been a rapid development of scaffolds consisting of natural (collagen, gelatine), bioabsorbable syntethic (polyglycolic acid, polylactic acid) and inorganic (hydroxyapatite) polymers during recent years. [81]. In particular, collagen is the most promising material for tissue engineering due to its biocompatibility and biodegradability. However, due to the low denaturation and melting temperatures, collagen of most fish species is not suitable for such applications in its native form. For this reason, cross-linking of collagen by chemical or physical means is often studied for biomedical applications. Chemical treatments induce high strength and stability to the collagen matrix but they can result in potential cytotoxicity or poor biocompatibility, whereas physical treatments, such as UV irradiation may produce good stability and no cytotoxicity [81]. [PERSON] et al. [82] have prepared elastic vascular grafts from salmon collagen using mixtures of acidic collagen solution and fibrillogenesis-inducing buffer containing a cross-linking agent (water-soluble carbodiimide, WSC). These grafts induced little inflammatory reactions after subcutaneous placement in rat tissues. Collagen was also used as a matrix for research investigating the possibility of regeneration of dental pulp after pullectomy, using stem cells [83]. Furthermore, 3D printing processes have found numerous applications, including biomedical. Fish gelatine, which is more soluble and remains liquid at lower temperatures compared to mammalian gelatines is an good potential candidate for use a biological dye for use in 3D printing of tissue scaffolds [84]. [PERSON] et al. [85] have created reinforced gelatine meta-acrylamide (GelMA) hydrogels with poly(e-caprolactone) (PCL) fiber scaffolds using melt electrospinninging direct writing as a form of 3D printing. The stiffness and elasticity of the created structures have approached those of articular cartilage tissue. Beside the use of gelatine in its native form, fish gelatine hydrolysates, obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis, offer an interesting option for by-product utilization by the fish-processing industry. Numerous companies worldwide offer fish gelatine/collagen hydrolysates for use in nutraceutical and for cosmetic purposes. Nutraceuticals are broadly defined as \"food or part of a food that provides health benefits in addition to its nutritional content\" [86]. They are pharmacologically active substances that can be obtained from food (of animal or vegetable origin) and can be further concentrated and used in a suitable pharmaceutical form [87]. Since an official and specific definition of nutraceuticals is still missing from legislative standpoint, many of the health and safety claims for these products are experiencing legal challenges worldwide [88]. Although the EU Commission has yet to approve many of the health and cosmetic claims, some manufacturers are already selling their products with certain claims supported by current research. Considering the higher cost of fish-derived gelatine in comparison to mammalian sources, production of bioactive products for specialized food and pharmaceutical use may represent a good opportunity for increasing its economic value.