Problems of efficient processing and use of collagen-containing materials

Collagen is an important biopolymer in numerous applications due to its special characteristics, such as biodegradability and weak antigenecity. Interest recently, has grown in fish collagen. This stems from the fact, that the use of animal collagen is unsafe due to the effects from cattle rabies disease. Furthermore, fish collagen is 96 % identical to human protein. Modern fish production is accompanied by the formation of a large number of protein-containing wastes. Depending on the degree of fish processing waste hydrolysis we obtain different products, such as feed additives or growth accelerators. Available technologies are unacceptable, because they require the consumption of large amounts of time and energy. The enzymatic method of obtaining collagen hydrolysates is the most suitable because it can be implemented under milder conditions and it prevents the destruction of amino acids, carbohydrates and other substances contained in the waste. Application of the alkaline enzymatic hydrolysis method with hydrogen peroxide pretreatment at elevated temperature provides a collagen hydrolysate, which is characterized by a high content of total nitrogen; collagen is amorphous, has fully homogeneous structure and has a balanced amino acid composition.