EXTRACTION AND DETERMINATION OF COLLAGEN PEPTIDE AND ITS CLINICAL IMPORTANCE FROM TILAPIA FISH SCALES (OREOCHROMIS NILOTICUS)

Tilapia are one of the most widely introduced fish globally that has clearly emerged as a very promising group in aquaculture. Oreochromis mossambicus was the first tilapia species to be taken up for large scale aquaculture, followed by Oreochromis niloticus, Oreochromis aureus and Tilapia rendalli. Today O. niloticus contributes more than 80% of tilapia aquaculture production globally. O. mossambicus was introduced in India as early as 1952 with a view to filling some unoccupied ecological niches, mainly pond aquaculture and reservoir fisheries. Tilapia fish scales found to have more percentage of Type I collagen. Fish collagen is complex structural protein that helps to maintain the strength and flexibility of skin, ligaments, bones, joints, muscles, tendons, gums, eyes, blood vessels, nails and hair. Collagen can be obtained from fish scales, fish skins by advanced enzymatic digestion methods in biotechnology. The Protein content of the above is more than 90% and having 18 kinds of amino acids out of which 7 are essential for human consumption. These products are easily absorbable and having high biological value promoting the absorption of vitamins and minerals. The enzymatic digestion technology process releases a lot of peptides in molecular collagen that helps humans in many physiological functions. Collagen has been used in biomedical pharmaceutical, food and cosmetic industries. In this paper we have determined the collagen extracted from Tilapia fish scales and also its clinical importance.