[Research progress on the application of pollen in the biomedical field]

Pollen is a natural, renewable, and biodegradable microparticle that has demonstrated significant potential for application in the biomedical field in recent years. It features a natural core-shell structure, unique morphology, and uniform size. The sporopollenin outer layer of pollen provides exceptional chemical stability, biocompatibility, and ultraviolet-resistant. Moreover, the surface of pollen is abundant in functional groups, allowing facile chemical modification. Owing to these distinctive physicochemical properties and favorable biological characteristics, pollen has emerged as an ideal biomaterial platform. This review outlines recent advances in the biomedical applications of pollen. It introduces methods for defatting and gelation processing of pollen and systematically summarizes its applications in various fields, including drug carriers, microrobots/micromotors, biosensors, three-dimensional printing, photothermal therapy, hemostasis, biological scaffolds, and ultraviolet-resistant. This review provides a reference for broadening the application of pollen and offers insights into the utilization of natural resources.