Preparation and characterization of several fish bone collagens

As a part of the study regarding an effective use of underutilized resources, type I collagen was prepared from several fish bones and partially characterized. The yield of collagen was fairly high with values ranging from about 41 to 54% on the basis of lyophilized dry weight. The pattern of lysyl endopeptidase peptide fragments from fish bone collagen obtained from different fish specie were very similar. However, the subunit structures were quite different and were as follows. Japanese sea bass, (alpha 1),alpha 2, horse mackerel, (alpha 1)(3) and ayu; alpha 1 alpha 2 alpha 3. These results suggest a wide distribution of molecular forms in fish bone collagen.