Hydrolysed Collagen Peptides

Hydrolysed collagen is not a single molecule and should never be specified as one. It is a mixture of peptides obtained by partial hydrolysis of collagen — in practice by hydrolysing gelatine a second time — and it carries the collective identifiers CAS 92113-31-0 and EC 295-635-5. Manufacture runs from cleaned raw material through acid or alkali conditioning, hot-water extraction, enzymatic hydrolysis, filtration, ion exchange, sterilisation and spray drying. Two numbers govern how the material is bought. The first is the nitrogen conversion factor: collagen is calculated at N × 5.55, not the 6.25 used for general food protein, and a buyer who applies 6.25 will overstate protein on the label by about 12%. The second is average molecular weight, typically 1000–3000 Da for a standard peptide and up to 5000 Da for coarser grades; it is the parameter that decides cold-water solubility, viscosity and whether the powder gels. Hydroxyproline, at roughly 8–10% of amino acids, is the marker used to confirm the material really is collagen and has not been cut with cheaper non-collagen protein. Collagen contains no tryptophan, so it is an incomplete protein and cannot carry a protein-quality claim in markets that score by PDCAAS. The joint positioning of this article is a formulation and dosage decision, not a different chemistry. The workhorse is bovine hide collagen, predominantly type I with some type III, and it is the same peptide whether the finished brand sells it for joints, skin or sports recovery. Where the source genuinely changes the article is elsewhere: bovine bone (ossein) collagen; porcine skin collagen, which is chemically equivalent but closed out of halal and kosher programmes; fish skin collagen, type I, marine and acceptable to pescatarian formulators but a declarable fish allergen under EU Regulation 1169/2011 Annex II and US FALCPA; and hydrolysed type II collagen from chicken sternal cartilage, which is avian and arrives with depolymerised chondroitin sulphate and hyaluronic acid from the cartilage matrix, so the peptide fraction is only part of what is being paid for. Undenatured (native) type II collagen is a separate article altogether, dosed in milligrams rather than grams and not hydrolysed — do not treat the two as interchangeable. Thovek describes composition and nutrient function only and makes no therapeutic claim for any grade. Commercially the specification that matters is the one the finished format imposes. Clear ready-to-drink beverages need turbidity under 50 FTU and a 10% solution viscosity near 2.0 mPa·s, or the bottle hazes; bar and gummy makers care about hygroscopicity and particle size instead. Residual sulphite is worth watching because the EU requires sulphur dioxide and sulphites to be declared above 10 mg/kg, and reputable collagen holds under that limit. All bovine and porcine material is an animal by-product: raw material comes from animals slaughtered and passed fit for human consumption, handled under the gelatine and collagen rules at Annex III Sections XIV and XV of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, with BSE/TSE country-of-origin certification supplied on every consignment. Halal and kosher certified bovine hide lots are available; no grade of this product is vegan or vegetarian.