The peptide on the supermarket shelf
Collagen peptides
Small pieces of collagen, the most common protein in your body.
- Comes from
- Collagen, broken into small pieces
- Collagen in the body
- About 30% of all your protein
- Also called
- Hydrolysed collagen
- Found in
- Skin, bones, tendons and more
The story
Collagen is the most abundant protein in the human body, making up about 30% of all your protein. It's the main building block of skin, bones, tendons and ligaments.
A whole collagen molecule is huge, about 300,000 daltons. To make collagen peptides, manufacturers use enzymes to cut it into small pieces of roughly 3,000 to 6,000 daltons. That process is called hydrolysis, which is why you'll see "hydrolysed collagen" on labels.
Good to know
Collagen has a very repetitive structure. About a third of it is glycine, and it follows a repeating pattern of glycine, proline and one other amino acid. Three chains wind together like a rope, which gives collagen its strength.
Collagen peptides are sold in Australia as food and supplement powders, so they're probably the peptide you're most likely to have seen in a shop.
Did you know?
Scientists have found close to 30 types of collagen. Type I makes up around 90% of the collagen in your body.