Exploring the versatility of galactomannan polysaccharides in tissue engineering applications with insights on structure-function relationship

Galactomannan-based biomaterials have gained a lot of attention in various biomedical fields due to their rheological, mechanical, and chemical characteristics. They are widely preferred due to their ease of modification and tunability. The variation in the ratio of galactose to mannose residues in different galactomannans provides them with unique tunable physiochemical properties like mechanical strength, porosity, swelling capacity, viscoelasticity, etc. Galactomannans can be applied in different forms, such as hydrogels, films, nanoparticles, microparticles, etc., and are used extensively in various tissue engineering (TE) applications. The objective of this review is to uphold the versatility of galactomannans and its diverse applications in different fields of TE, like bone TE, cardiac TE, cartilage TE, 3D printing, wound healing, and cell culture platform. This article provides comprehensive insights about the structure to function relationship, demonstrating how the versatile physicochemical characteristics of galactomannan aligns with the functional requirements for different fields of TE, like high mechanical strength and biomineralization for Bone TE, optimum viscoelasticity and shape recovery for Cartilage and 3D Bioprinting, and precise fluid management for skin and wound healing application. The key findings and future perspectives provided for each section serves as a groundwork resource to guide future research in the field. The future direction must focus on high precision site-specific galactose to mannose ratio tuning through chemical or enzymatic synthesis, integrating different crosslinking method for enhanced fatigue resistance, and finally clinical translation of these scaffolds for complex tissue and organ regeneration.