Antimicrobial Marine-Derived Materials

Currently, the next generation of natural-based antimicrobial systems has been developed, showing the potential to prevent and eliminate microorganisms in various environments. Within this context, the antibacterial activity of marine-derived polymers supports the creation of antimicrobial-based formulations as alternative strategy for antibiotic use. Marine renewable sources such as crab shells, squid pens, and mollusks are the sustainable feedstock of high-value polymers, extracts, and bioactive compounds. In addition, marine-derived polymers show low cost, high availability, biodegradability, and biocompatibility. Furthermore, they can be easily designed as 2D/3D-based structures, namely, membranes, hydrogels, microfibers, and scaffolds, opening a wide range of possibilities for biomedicine use. This chapter discusses the latest developments in antimicrobial systems based on marine-derived structures, focusing on alginate, carrageenan, chitin/chitosan, collagen, chondroitin sulfate, fucoidan, gelatin, hyaluronic acid, and ulvan. Moreover, their mechanism of action and their biomedical applications are also examined, where more close international collaboration is needed to address those issues.