Challenges and opportunities on vegetable oils derived systems for biomedical applications

Area of Science:

• Polymer Science
• Biomaterials Science
• Medicinal Chemistry

Background:

• Vegetable oils are abundant, cost-effective, and sustainable feedstocks for polymer synthesis.
• Beyond building blocks, vegetable oils contain potent biomolecules with antioxidant, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-tumor properties.
• These natural compounds offer significant promise for biomedical applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review grape, soybean, castor, sesame, and olive oils as sources of bioactive compounds for biomedical uses.
• To explore the potential of these oils in designing functional, high-performance biomaterials.
• To discuss innovative strategies for developing multifunctional polymeric materials for various medical applications.

Main Methods:

• Comprehensive literature review of vegetable oils and their derived biomaterials.
• Analysis of native anti-inflammatory, anti-tumor, antioxidant, and antibacterial compounds.
• Examination of biomaterial composition, shape, and processing technologies.

Main Results:

• Selected vegetable oils (grape, soybean, castor, sesame, olive) possess valuable bioactive compounds.
• These oils are suitable for molecular design of advanced biomaterials, reducing carbon footprint.
• Examples of vegetable oil-derived biomaterials and their processing are presented.

Conclusions:

• Vegetable oils are promising for creating sustainable, high-performance biomaterials.
• The inherent biological activities of these oils can be leveraged for biomedical applications.
• Further development is needed for novel polymeric materials in pharmacological patches, wound healing, drug delivery, and tissue engineering.