Collagen peptides are short pieces of the protein collagen: chains of a few to several dozen amino acids, created by cutting the long, natural collagen chains with enzymes. It is the same substance as hydrolysed collagen and collagen hydrolysate; collagen peptides is simply the name that emphasises the result rather than the process.
In this article you can read what a peptide is exactly, how short a collagen peptide is (from tripeptides to longer chains), why a manufacturer actually cuts collagen into peptides instead of stopping at gelatine, and which names are used for it on a label. The complete production process from raw material to powder is described step by step in hydrolysed collagen; here the focus is on the peptides themselves.
What is a peptide?
A peptide is a short chain of amino acids, the building blocks of every protein. Amino acids are joined together by a peptide bond; two amino acids together already form a peptide (a dipeptide), three a tripeptide, and so on. There is no hard boundary, but in chemistry a chain of about 2 to 50 amino acids is usually called a peptide; a longer chain is called a protein.
By that measure, collagen itself is a protein: the natural molecule consists of three chains of more than a thousand amino acids, twisted together into a long spiral. How that molecule is structured is explained in what is collagen. A collagen peptide is a piece of that same chain, cut loose until it is small enough to be called a peptide again rather than a protein.
Peptides occur everywhere, not just in collagen
Peptides are not unique to collagen. Whey protein, soy protein and most other proteins also consist of amino acids joined by peptide bonds, and peptides can be made from any protein using enzymes. What makes hydrolysed collagen distinctive is not the peptide bond itself, but that the manufacturer has already done the cutting in the factory: the result is a powder with a predetermined, consistent chain length, rather than a random mixture.
Collagen peptides or hydrolysed collagen: are they the same?
Yes. Collagen peptides, hydrolysed collagen and collagen hydrolysate are three names for the same substance, and they are used interchangeably on labels. The difference lies in the perspective from which you describe the substance: "hydrolysed collagen" describes what has been done to it (it has been split with water and enzymes), "collagen hydrolysate" is the technical umbrella term for the end product, and "collagen peptides" describes what it consists of: peptides. How that splitting works exactly, from raw material to spray dryer, is described step by step in hydrolysed collagen: what it means and how it is made.
How short is a collagen peptide? From tripeptides to longer chains
A hydrolysate is never one fixed length, but a mixture of shorter and longer pieces around an average. A few terms you will come across:
- Dipeptide. A chain of two amino acids.
- Tripeptide. A chain of three amino acids. In collagen, the combination glycine-proline-hydroxyproline recurs again and again as the building pattern of the long chain; that is a tripeptide that occurs hundreds of times in a single collagen molecule.
- Oligopeptide. A chain of up to about twenty amino acids.
- Longer peptides. Up to several dozen amino acids. Most collagen peptides in a jar of powder fall within this length, which corresponds to a molecular weight of 2,000 to 5,000 daltons (what that figure tells you, you can read in hydrolysed collagen).
Some producers deliberately steer their process towards a larger share of tripeptides, for example with fish collagen. As soon as our article on that is online, we will link to it from here; for now we limit ourselves to what a tripeptide is, not to what it would do.
Why is collagen cut into peptides at all?
The simple answer: because the intermediate step, gelatine, does not dissolve in cold water. Natural collagen does not dissolve at all; gelatine only dissolves when heated and gels again as soon as it cools, as in a dessert. For a powder you can stir into a cold glass of water or a smoothie at any time, that is useless. Only when the gelatine chains are cut further into peptides of a few thousand daltons does the material stay dissolved, even when cold and even after a while in the cupboard.
Producers also control that cutting precisely. Too little hydrolysis and the powder dissolves poorly or still gels slightly; too much hydrolysis and the peptides become so small that more free amino acids are formed, which makes the taste more bitter. The degree of hydrolysis, meaning how far the process is taken, is therefore a deliberate choice by the producer: somewhere between just no longer gelatine and almost entirely free amino acids.
Is a shorter collagen peptide better?
Manufacturers sometimes advertise the lowest possible molecular weight, as if shorter is automatically better. A shorter peptide does indeed dissolve more easily and often has less taste of its own; those are facts about the preparation, which you can check with a pair of scales and a glass of water. Whether a shorter peptide also ends up differently in your body is a statement about effect. There is no permitted substantiation for that for collagen, and so we do not make that statement.
When comparing powders, don't look for the lowest figure in daltons, but at what can be verified: the raw material, the brand name, the dose per scoop and the price per gram. That overview can be found in hydrolysed collagen: what it means and how it is made.
Collagen peptides on the label
On an ingredients list you will see different names for the same substance: collagen peptides, hydrolysed collagen, collagen hydrolysate, and on Dutch products collageenpeptiden and gehydrolyseerd collageen. Brand names such as VERISOL® (GELITA, Germany) and NATICOL® (Weishardt, France) are collagen peptides from a specific producer, made using a defined process with a defined raw material; other brands on the market are Peptan® and Solugel®. If it only says "collagen peptides" without a brand name, you don't know who made it. The complete overview of names and what to look for when choosing can be found in hydrolysed collagen: what it means and how it is made.
Our own collagen peptides: Earth and Sea
Our own powder is built up this way: Earth consists of VERISOL® collagen peptides from GELITA made from bovine hide, Sea of NATICOL® collagen peptides from Weishardt made from fish skin. Both type 1, one ingredient, produced in Europe under ISO 9001 and FSSC 22000, 300 grams per jar in 60 servings of 5 grams. We recommend 10 grams a day for twelve weeks and then 5 grams. All variants can be found under collagen powder.
What we don't say about it
No health claims have been approved in the European Union for collagen and collagen peptides. We therefore say nothing about what collagen peptides do in your body, nor whether shorter peptides make a difference compared with longer ones, or are better absorbed. What we do tell you: what a peptide is, how short it is, and which name it goes by on a label. Why those rules exist and what a seller may and may not promise, you can read in what is a collagen brand actually allowed to promise.
Frequently asked questions about collagen peptides
What are collagen peptides?
Short pieces of the protein collagen: chains of a few to several dozen amino acids, created by cutting the long collagen chains with enzymes. It is the form of collagen found in collagen powder.
Are collagen peptides the same as hydrolysed collagen?
Yes. Collagen peptides, hydrolysed collagen and collagen hydrolysate are three names for the same substance; they are used interchangeably on labels.
What is the difference between a peptide and a protein?
A peptide is a short chain of amino acids, usually up to around fifty. A longer chain is called a protein. By that measure natural collagen is a protein; hydrolysis produces peptides.
What is a tripeptide?
A chain of three amino acids. In collagen, the combination glycine-proline-hydroxyproline recurs again and again. It is a chemical description of the length of a chain, not a statement about what that chain does.
Why is collagen cut into peptides?
Because natural collagen does not dissolve in water and the intermediate step, gelatine, only dissolves when warm and gels when it cools. Only peptides of a few thousand daltons stay dissolved when cold, which is necessary for a powder you stir into a cold glass of water.
What does it mean if a label says "collageenpeptiden" instead of "collagen peptides"?
Nothing different. It is the Dutch name for the same substance, found on products sold in the Netherlands and Belgium.
