Tilapia fish collagen: potential as halal biomaterial in tissue engineering applications

Abstract

Collagen is a natural bioactive polymer widely utilized in tissue engineering applications due to its biocompatibility and biodegradability. Collagen derived from mammalian sources such as porcine and bovine is commonly used as biomaterials. However, due to religious concerns, the halal status of collagen must be put into consideration. Since most of the mammalian collagen is hampered by its haram origins, marine collagens are widely investigated as alternatives for mammalian collagen in tissue engineering applications. Even though the marine collagens are safe and easy to extract, these sources of collagen are hindered by their low denaturing temperature. Tilapia fish (Oreochromis niloticus) has long been studied for its potential to substitute mammalian collagen for biomedical purposes due to its higher thermal stability compared to other marine sources. We herein review the potency of tilapia collagen as a biomaterial for tissue engineering applications. In this review paper, we mainly focus on the application of tilapia collagen in the skin, bone/dentin, neural and corneal tissue engineering.