Carbohydrate polymersNov 30, 2025

Genipin-crosslinked pectin hydrogels for better 3D printing and stronger stability

Regenerative Health Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Jan 7, 2026

Abstract

Pectin hydrogels with elastic moduli values ranging from 3-5 KPa were developed through amine modification and genipin crosslinking.

Amine modification and genipin crosslinking improved the mechanical stability of pectin hydrogels under physiological conditions.
Crosslinking efficiency of the hydrogels reached a plateau at various amine:genipin ratios from 1:0.6 to 1:3.
3D printed pectin hydrogels maintained structural integrity and enhanced porosity after lyophilization.
The hydrogels exhibited responsive swelling kinetics to pH changes while retaining high hydrolytic stability and being non-cytotoxic.
The developed biomaterial inks allow for precise 3D extrusion of scaffolds with up to 7 layers.

Simplified

The development of polysaccharide-based biomaterial inks with tailored physicochemical properties and dynamic responsiveness currently attracts a lot of scientific interest. Pectin, a natural and biocompatible polysaccharide, shows great promise for a wide range of biomedical applications, but its limited mechanical strength and printability constrain its application in 3D extrusion bioprinting. This study introduces a strategy to overcome these drawbacks via amine modification and genipin crosslinking, producing hydrogels with improved mechanical stability under physiological conditions. Pectin hydrogels formed at various amine:genipin ratios (1:0.6 to 1:3) exhibited elastic moduli values in the range of 3-5 KPa under physiological conditions, with crosslinking efficiency reaching a plateau. Biomaterial inks comprising crosslinked pectin particles were dispersed in a reactive aqueous pectin solution, thus enabling precise 3D extrusion of scaffolds with up to 7 layers, maintaining structural integrity post-lyophilization. The 3D printed pectin hydrogels showed enhanced porosity and swelling kinetics, particularly in response to pH changes, while maintaining high hydrolytic stability and non-cytotoxicity. This approach provides a promising platform for developing dynamic, pectin-based bioinks in bio applications requiring of extrusion based additive manufacturing techniques.

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Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

PubMed

Genipin-crosslinked pectin hydrogels for better 3D printing and stronger stability

Abstract

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Competing interests

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Abstract

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