DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

YEAR 3 Biochemical Engineering Coursework 2 2015-16

(H83BCE)

Technology Review and Appraisal

Group Number
Group Members

: 16
: Ramis

Rafay

(012217)
Jason
Lee Yong Sheng (008858)
Lee Wai
Zun (008879)
Lecturer

Dr.

Lau

Technology

Phei Li
Coursework Title
Review and Appraisal
Date of handing-in

: 13th April, 2015

Executive Summary
Collagen is the most important substance needed by our body to keep us young
and healthy. Collagen is also the most abundant protein in our human body.
Around 30% of the proteins in the human body are collagen. These are tough
and strong structure found all over the body especially in bones, tendons and
ligaments. It also represents 70% of the body connection tissue and function in
the creation and support structure of skin, muscle, bone and cartilage. There are
various types of collagen, at least 16 types, but 80-90% of collagens in the body
belong to types I, II and III.
Collagen is essentially important to all humans because it helps in improving
humans health and lifestyle. Production of collagen naturally decreases with
age, skin begins to lose its elasticity, causing sagging, formation of lines and
wrinkles. Collagen is also required in the replacement and restoration of dead
skin cells. Furthermore, collagen helps in wound healing. It attracts new skin
cells to the wound site to promote healing and provides a platform for the new
tissue to grow. Cartilage present in joints is mostly made up of collagen that
prevents bones from rubbing against each another. Last but not least, it is
known that bones are primarily made up of collagen and calcium. Collagen helps
in reducing the rate of osteoporosis. As the body ages, it loses bone substance
faster than it produces.
There are two main sources for the extraction of collagen; land animal extracts
and fish extracts. Land animal extract collagen is mostly obtained from the skins
or hides of cows and pigs, or the feet of chicken while fish extract collagen is
obtained mainly from the fish skin and scales. According to research, marine
sourced collagen is mostly used nowadays due to its cost effectiveness.

Background
Animal collagen is one seventh inferior to fish collagen when broken down by
molecular weight according to research. Collagen that is broken down into
peptides by digestive enzymes will only be absorbed by the body. The ability to
break down collagen is the same as the ability of absorbing collagen. Therefore,
fish collagen is easier to be broken down compared to the animal collagen. In
the past, when animal collagen from cows, pigs and chicken were used, many
doubts came about as to the safety of the process as mad cow disease and other
harmful diseases are prevalent from these sources. Therefore, marine collagen is
preferred as it is deemed safer to consume.
Marine collagen derived from fish scales and skin and is being used widely as
natural supplement. It is known that fish collagen have a low hydroxyproline
content and denaturation temperature. Therefore, fish collagen is better during
the digestion and absorption phase by the body when compared to the animal
collagen. Besides that, it is proven that animal collagen exhibits a foul odour and
taste when high concentration is used while marine collagen has very little to no
smell and taste even when high concentration is used. Therefore, this helps in
production of collagen water solution with high concentration which has better
digestion and absorption.
On the other hand, the calcium and fatty ingredients that exist in the animal
collagen mainly by beef and pork are very difficult to be removed while Marine
collagen does not contain high levels of calcium or fatty ingredients in it.
Therefore, it is safer and healthier to be consumed by the people who have high
blood pressure. Marine collagen is also a product that is obtained through a
series of processing involving good amount of input of chemicals. The product
can be stored in a form of liquid or powder for easier transportation and usage.
In conclusion, it is proven that marine collagen is better and safer to be
consumed as compared to the animal collagen that is derived from cow and pig.

Arrival of fish
parts after their
9`
skins have been
removed

Dewatered using
frame filter

The fish skins

are cooled and
frozen.

High
temperature
water heater to
reduce the fat
content of the
fish around
100C

The mixture is spraydrying to form into fine

powder. Depends on
its application, it is
then move to
packaging process and
it is ready to be
delivered.

Concentration
and sterilization

Enzymatic
hydrolysis with
distilled water

Reactor for acid

treatment
whereby they
are reacted
with an acid
and alkaline to
remove
minerals and
bacteria

Extractor

Appraisal on the process

The technology that we are using is the process of producing NatiCol while the
alternative process is the process of collagen from barramundi skin. NatiCol is a
complete range of marine hydrolyzed collagen. Barramundi is a species of
catadromous fish which has an extensive range in tropical and semitropical areas
of the Indo-Pacific.
For collagens from Barramundi skins, the chemical reagents used are Pepsin
from porcine stomach mucousa and papain. The extraction process is performed
at 4C to remove fat and it is soaked in acetic acid and subjected to hydrolysis.
Besides, determination of amino acid composition is carried out because the skin
are acid hydrolysed. This process is using normal extraction and finally the
solubility of collagen product is calculated.
For the process of NatiCol, he fish skins are soaked in lime or some type of acid
and alkali. The acid is a 4% hydrochloric acid and alkaline wash is a potassium
or sodium carbonate. This process introduces enzymatic hydrolysis which is a
catalytic decomposition of a chemical compound is used in the reaction with
distilled water. Besides, process of concentration and sterilisation are applied. By
using this process, the microbiological organisms are eliminated to ensure that
the collagen product is purified and are safer for consumption. The technology
used is named as ISO 9001/2000 which is certified by Weishardt International.

Discussion
Collagen supplements, often available in the form of a drink, cost up to USD100
per bottle. Offering a range of benefits including reducing wrinkles, tighter skin,
plump skin and improved skin elasticity, collagen supplements seem to have
marketed themselves as the solution to the ever pressing issue of the effects of
aging. The truth is, however, that there is little to no real evidence that these
beautifying supplements actually do what they claim to be able to. Collagen is a
type of protein that when ingested, is broken down into amino acids to be used
by the cells of the body according to its needs.
Collagen is also consumed in the form of skin applications like creams, gels and
lotions which are supposed to be absorbed by the skin. However, the molecules
of collagen are far too large to be absorbed to the skin and are most likely to
stay there on the top layer and get washed or rubbed away. Collagen
supplements also claim to lead to weight loss but no evidence suggests that it
actually works.
Though there are benefits to collagen supplements, a couple cases of allergic
reactions have been reported where individuals may exhibit symptoms like the
eruption of skin rashes, nausea induced vomiting, a difficulty in breathing, a dip
in the blood pressure and skin ulcers. Sometimes food sensitivity may occur
where individuals consuming the pill become sensitive to the animal derivatives
like chicken or cow. People suffering from autoimmune diseases must strictly
avoid collagen supplements in any form; the body treats it as a foreign
substance and tends to reject it, resulting in inflammation of the face and
extremities. The side effects may vary according to the collagen supplement
administered to the user. The main reasons for such undesirable effects are that
the body sometimes rejects the supplements or if the user takes more than the
recommended dosage.
Most collagen nowadays is extracted from the scales of fish skin or the fish skin
itself, earlier they were derived from the animal hides of cows and from chicken.
This is because fish scales are more cost efficient. Fish skin is soft and so
collagen can be extracted completely with heat and enzymes but the hard scales
do not melt with heat and enzymes so they are dissolved by hydrochloric acid.
The usage of hydrochloric acid poses two problems; one being that residual
hydrochloric acid may be left in the final product, and this causes problems like
gastritis; and the second being that the acid dissolves not only scales but the
collagen within it as well, even destroying its peptide bonds and affecting
collagen activity.
As the development of collagen comes from animal derivative to make it fit for
consumption, the sustainability of the process comes into question with
worldwide fish stocks depleting. But with collagen sources now being derived
from farmed sources, the problem of sustainability is less of an issue.

Conclusion
As you can see from research of technology review from above, we know the
importance of collagen to human being. We require input of collagen to keep our
body young and healthy as collagen represents body connective tissue and
function to create human body skin. There are several types of collagen which
are animal extracts and fish extracts. We have discovered that Marine collagen
which is derived from fish scales has a very high demand among public as fish
collagen is more preferable in digestion and absorption of our human body. On
the other hand, calcium and fatty ingredients in animal collagen are very hard to
be removed and consumed by human being who is diagnosing with high blood
pressure.
Marine collagen benefits we human being by reducing wrinkles, reversing age of
skin, tighter skin and many others which are state in discussion part. Although it
benefits human being, there are several allergic cases in the past but that is
because of the food sensitivity who people are suffering from autoimmune
diseases to animal like cow or chicken. Some report of gastritis also has been
reported due to the residual hydrochloric acid left in the collagen. But as the
collagen has been developed more for consumption, the amount of the report
has been reduced.
In conclusion, Marine collagen has proven its value in the worldwide whereby it
is safer and better to consumed compare to collagen of animal extracts. On top
of that, marine collagen has a lot of advantages which helps our body to stay
healthy and younger.

Recommendation
In order to ensure the safety of consumers and avoid case regarding to BSE, the
process of concentration and sterilization should be doubled. Adding on the same
process, it will assure the best bacteriology.
Gelatine is a translucent, colorless foodstuff which is derived from collagen which
is obtained from various animal by-products. Applying this process affords the
best security. It will introduce Ionic demineralization and filtrations. They provide
the maximum purity and highest collagen ratio.

Peer Assessment Table

Name

Weight (%)

Ramis Rafay

33.3

Jason Lee Yong Sheng

33.3

Lee Wai Zun

33.3

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