Alberta has loads of beef - and loads of beef hides, too, most of which are of low commercial value. Mirko Betti has a good use for them.
Betti, a food scientist in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, is supervising a team of researchers that's extracting and repurposing collagen from bovine hides as well as from poultry byproducts such as skin and cartilage.
"Collagen is an important protein that can be recovered and modified to something that can be beneficial to us in terms of skin regeneration and to alleviate joint pains," said Betti.
"Plus this collagen, this modified peptide (a smaller piece of molecule), can be used as a natural health product and eventually a food ingredient."
There are already products on the market that contain collagen peptides which are used in nutritional supplements for skin care. They're made from bovine, fish or poultry byproducts and are ingested in pill form. Betti got interested in improving production methods for collagen peptides because Alberta is such a large source of meat byproducts, but he's aware any new investors in the market would want a unique recovery technology they could patent.
So Betti and his researchers began exploring two new steps in collagen recovery.
In the first step, they put it through hydrolysis (water-based chemical breakdown) so that the collagen molecule, which is far too large to be absorbed by the human digestive system, is broken into smaller pieces by protease enzymes. Although that's not a new idea, the process being developed by PhD student Meng Meng Feng involves a new cocktail of different enzyme combinations.
In the second segment of their research, the scientists are also trying to bind natural chemical compounds to these smaller pieces of collagen - a process that is called functionalization - so that they move from the blood stream to the target tissue with improved active effect (also known as bioviability). The compounds they're using are a byproduct from the crustacean processing industry.
As far as Betti knows, his team is the only one attempting this so-called functionalization of collagen peptides, which is being led by postdoctoral fellow Abhishek Bhattacherjee. Moreover, the team is not limiting itself to collagen's applications for skin care.
PhD candidate Lihui Du is examining the anti-freezing (cryoprotectant) capabilities of collagen peptides, which might allow it to protect food from freezing damage.
"What's on the market now for cryoprotectant uses sugars," she said. "If we can use collagen instead, it has more benefit for customers with diabetes, or who don't prefer the taste, and has a lower calorie count."
PhD student Henan Wang is researching whether iron can bind to the peptides, so that it can be delivered more efficiently to target populations such as anemics or pregnant women.
While the work that's being done by the entire team is ensuring that the technology can work on collagen collected from both bovine and poultry sources, Betti sees very clear advantages for the meat industry, which is seeing changes in consumption of red meat throughout the western world.
"This represents an extra source of profit," he said. "From something that's low-value."
The research is being funded by the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency, Alberta Innovates - Bio Solutions and the Alberta Chicken Producers.
Betti, a food scientist in the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, is supervising a team of researchers that's extracting and repurposing collagen from bovine hides as well as from poultry byproducts such as skin and cartilage.
"Collagen is an important protein that can be recovered and modified to something that can be beneficial to us in terms of skin regeneration and to alleviate joint pains," said Betti.
"Plus this collagen, this modified peptide (a smaller piece of molecule), can be used as a natural health product and eventually a food ingredient."
There are already products on the market that contain collagen peptides which are used in nutritional supplements for skin care. They're made from bovine, fish or poultry byproducts and are ingested in pill form. Betti got interested in improving production methods for collagen peptides because Alberta is such a large source of meat byproducts, but he's aware any new investors in the market would want a unique recovery technology they could patent.
So Betti and his researchers began exploring two new steps in collagen recovery.
In the first step, they put it through hydrolysis (water-based chemical breakdown) so that the collagen molecule, which is far too large to be absorbed by the human digestive system, is broken into smaller pieces by protease enzymes. Although that's not a new idea, the process being developed by PhD student Meng Meng Feng involves a new cocktail of different enzyme combinations.
In the second segment of their research, the scientists are also trying to bind natural chemical compounds to these smaller pieces of collagen - a process that is called functionalization - so that they move from the blood stream to the target tissue with improved active effect (also known as bioviability). The compounds they're using are a byproduct from the crustacean processing industry.
As far as Betti knows, his team is the only one attempting this so-called functionalization of collagen peptides, which is being led by postdoctoral fellow Abhishek Bhattacherjee. Moreover, the team is not limiting itself to collagen's applications for skin care.
PhD candidate Lihui Du is examining the anti-freezing (cryoprotectant) capabilities of collagen peptides, which might allow it to protect food from freezing damage.
"What's on the market now for cryoprotectant uses sugars," she said. "If we can use collagen instead, it has more benefit for customers with diabetes, or who don't prefer the taste, and has a lower calorie count."
PhD student Henan Wang is researching whether iron can bind to the peptides, so that it can be delivered more efficiently to target populations such as anemics or pregnant women.
While the work that's being done by the entire team is ensuring that the technology can work on collagen collected from both bovine and poultry sources, Betti sees very clear advantages for the meat industry, which is seeing changes in consumption of red meat throughout the western world.
"This represents an extra source of profit," he said. "From something that's low-value."
The research is being funded by the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency, Alberta Innovates - Bio Solutions and the Alberta Chicken Producers.