Physicochemical and Biochemical Properties of Pepsin-Solubilized Collagen Isolated from the Integument of Sea Cucumber (Stichopus vastus)

Abstract

The integument (high collagen content) of sea cucumber Stichopus vastus is generally wasted after harvesting, whereas only its stomach and intestines are eaten in few Asian countries. Amino acid composition, thermal transition temperature (Tm), zeta potential, solubility, moisture absorption and retention capacities, proximate composition and morphology of pepsin-solubilized collagen (PSC) isolated from the integument of S. vastus were studied. Amino acid composition revealed that glycine was dominant in the isolated collagen. PSC was found to have an isoelectric pH of 4.67, good moisture absorption and retention capacity at higher humidity, a sharp effect of pH and NaCl concentration on solubility, and an inverse relationship between temperature and viscosity. PSC also showed the maximum Tm to be 37.3C, very high protein content and ultrastructural characteristics. Hence, the PSC has the potential to be used as a functional ingredient in food, cosmetics and nutraceutical products. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSSea cucumber S. vastus is an underutilized resource as most of its parts including integument, which is highly rich in collagen, are discarded as waste except its stomach and intestines, which are consumed as salad. At present, land-based mammals are the main sources of industrial collagen, which has a risk of viral disease transmission and religious disputation, whereas marine sources are free from such criticisms. Besides, collagen isolated from such waste might have industrial applications. The purpose of this research is to investigate physicochemical and biochemical properties of PSC isolated from the integument of S. vastus for exploring the potential applications in processing of different industrial products as an alternative to land-based origin.

A Letter to the Editor on “Nonenzymatic Softening Mechanism of Collagen Gel of Sea Cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus)”

“…Sea cucumber/fish skin collagens are extracted at low temperature (4C). The low-temperature extraction process of sea cucumber/fish skin collagens are well reported by several research groups in the last decade (de Moraes and Cunha 2013; Abedin et al 2014;Adibzadeh et al 2014;Pal et al 2015).…”

Optimization of Spray Drying Process in Commercial Hydrolyzed Fish Scale Collagen and Characterization by Scanning Electron Microscope and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy

“…; Abedin et al . ). Among new marine sources for collagen that had been discovered include octopus skin (Kimura et al .…”

“…; Abedin et al . ) fins, scales, skins and swim bladder of bighead carp (Liu et al . ; Latip et al .…”

Collagen Isolation from Arctic Marine Organisms and Their Industrial Processing Wastes

“…Scope of collagen applications extends at an increase in its solubility therefore recently a large number of publications are devoted to preparing collagen soluble in acids [3,7,8] and almost completely hydrolyzed to amino acids and peptides. [13], Stichopus japonicas [14], Parastichopus californicus [15], Holothuria parva [16], Stichopus vastus [17], etc.…”