Gelatin Based Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering and Drug Delivery Applications

Abstract

Gelatin is one of the most popular natural polymers which is widely used in food, pharmaceutical, biomedical and cosmetic industries. The gelatin has been prepared from different sources such as porcine skin, cattle bone, and fish, etc. Depending on the type of acidic and alkali extraction processes the type of gelatin A and B were obtained. This chapter provides a comprehensive overview of preparation of gelatin base hydrogel. Furthermore, we evaluate their method of crosslinking through Schift-base, Mischeal-addition-based, light, UV, chemical, and physical crosslinking. Moreover, due to the unique properties of gelatin they have the ability to immobilize cells and can be applied for stem cell and drug delivery in biomedical applications.