Tilapia Skin: Benefit for Burn Healing

Tilapia is a common name for tilapia. Tilapia are generally freshwater fish, living in streams, ponds, lakes, shallow rivers. and rarely found in brackish water. Throughout history, it has been of significant value to artisan fisheries in Africa and the Levant, as well as its increasing role in aquaculture and aquaponics. Tilapia can be a problematic invasive species in new warm-water habitats, which enter either intentionally or not, but generally not in temperate climates because it is not able to live in cold water below 21 °C.

Tilapia’s skin is rich in type 1 collagen, giving the effect of moisturizing longer than gauze so it is effective in treating burns. When used, the skin of this fish does not need to be replaced often.

Researchers in China have conducted experiments on mice to study its healing effects. However, it was Brazilian scientists who then actually applied it to humans.

In general practice, the medical step to treat burns is to use frozen pigskin or human skin tissue. The property is placed on the burn to maintain moisture and allow the transfer of collagen, a protein that helps to heal. However, public hospitals in Brazil do not have enough supplies of pigskin or human skin tissue. They use gauze instead that needs to be replaced regularly and often painfully for patients.

The good news is, Brazil is abundant in tilapia, known the same as tilapia in Indonesia. The fish are easy to find in rivers as well as fish farms. Researchers at the Federal University of Ceara in southern Brazil found that the skin of tilapia fish has higher levels of moisture, collagen, and resistance to disease than human skin. This means that the skin of tilapia fish can help the healing process.

“The use of tilapia skin on burns (in Brazil) has never been done before,” Odorico de Morais, a professor at Ceara University, was quoted as saying by Fox News on Friday (5/26/2017). “The skin of these fish is usually discarded, so we try to use it for something that provides social benefits,” he continued.

According to the researchers, the skin of tilapia fish is proven to accelerate healing for up to several days and reduce pain during treatment. The skin of the fish has also been tested on at least 56 patients with second-and third-degree burns. The trick is to apply directly to the burn area and attached it thoroughly, without the need for additional creams. After 10 days, the doctor removed the bandages and the skin of the tilapia dried up and the burn healed.