Collagen and chitin, and its derivative chitosan, stand out among the rich blue bioresources due to their unique properties and wide-ranging applications. Collagen is among the most abundant biomaterial in the animal kingdom and in marine organisms, collagen is particularly interesting due to its biocompatibility, biodegradability, and low antigenicity. These properties make marine-derived collagen a sough-after material for the biomedical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries.
Chitin, a polysaccharide found in the exosqueletons of crustaceans and insects, and its derivative chitosan, are known for their biodegradability, non-toxicity, and antimicrobial properties. These characteristics render chitin and chitosan valuable in water treatment, biomedicine, and food packaging, among other uses .
In addition to their valuable features, collagen and chitin/chitosan are abundant in underutilized sources from fisheries and aquaculture, particularly non-edible parts of fish and shellfish and fisheries by-catch. The valorisation of these seafood co-products, often discarded, represent a sustainable biomass for polymer extraction that adds economic value to the seafood production sector.
The goal of this research was to assess the global trends of intellectual property (IP) associated with collagen and chitin/chitosan value chains and compare them to the trends observed in scientific peer-reviewed publications in the same topics . An evaluation of current bottlenecks and misalignments between academic research and industrial usage of these knowledge was made. A systematic review of 1215 scientific publications and scoping of 4007 patent documents that fit the scope of this study was performed. Geographical distribution of authors /applicants, biomass source and type, extraction processes and sustainability concerns and current versus expected market usage was assessed .
The results allowed drawing of guidelines to better align these stakeholders’ efforts, but also pinpoint opportunities for the aquaculture sector to leverage their business into the circular biobased economy development models now flourishing worldwide.