Bovine Bone Collagen Peptides

Bovine bone collagen peptides are made on the ossein route rather than the hide route. Crushed bone from cattle passed fit for human consumption is degreased, demineralised in dilute acid to leave ossein, conditioned in lime, extracted to collagen, then hydrolysed with food-grade proteases, filtered, ion-exchanged, concentrated and spray dried. India is a long-established base for exactly this chemistry: the country's ossein and gelatine plants, concentrated in Gujarat and Maharashtra, were built on crushed bovine bone and have supplied ossein and gelatine to export markets since the 1970s. What separates a peptide from gelatine is the hydrolysis step, and it changes the material's behaviour completely. Hydrolysed collagen dissolves in cold as well as hot water at high solids, gives a clear low-viscosity solution and does not set a gel, so it carries no Bloom value and cannot substitute for gelatine in a gelling application. Commercial bovine hydrolysates typically run 2,000-3,000 Da average molecular weight, while enzymatic bone-peptide processes have been reported producing material distributed mainly between 500 and 1,000 Da, with over 92% of the peptides below 1,000 Da. Glycine, proline and hydroxyproline together account for roughly half the total amino acids. Two commercial points follow from that composition: collagen carries no tryptophan, so it is not a complete protein and should be counted as a protein contributor rather than a sole protein source, and protein must be calculated with the collagen nitrogen factor of 5.55, not the generic 6.25, which would overstate the assay by around 13%. Origin and process compliance are the commercially load-bearing part of this specification. Material is produced to the collagen and gelatine rules of Regulation (EC) No 853/2004, Annex III Sections XIV and XV, from raw material derived from animals found fit for human consumption. For the bovine bone route, the TSE Regulation (EC) No 999/2001 processing sequence applies: finely crushed and hot-water degreased bone, dilute hydrochloric acid at minimum 4% and pH below 1.5 for at least two days, saturated lime at pH above 12.5 for at least twenty days, and heat treatment at not less than 138 °C for at least four seconds. The product is bovine and therefore neither vegan nor vegetarian; it contains no milk, egg, fish, crustacean, soy, gluten or nut material, and halal or kosher status exists only where a certified lot is ordered against a valid certificate.