Hydrolysed collagen is collagen that has been cut into short pieces with enzymes. It is the collagen found in almost every collagen powder, and on labels it also appears as collagen hydrolysate or collagen peptides. Three names, one substance: the protein collagen, but in chains so short that they dissolve in cold water.
In this article you can read what hydrolysis is exactly, how collagen is made from raw material into powder, how it differs from gelatine, what a molecular weight in daltons does and does not tell you, and what to look for when comparing hydrolysed collagen.
What is hydrolysed collagen?
Hydrolysed collagen is collagen whose long protein chains have been cut by hydrolysis into short chains, called collagen peptides. A natural collagen molecule consists of three twisted chains of more than a thousand amino acids each and weighs about 300,000 daltons. After hydrolysis, pieces of two to five kilodaltons remain: roughly a hundred times smaller. The amino acids are the same, only the length of the chains is different.
That one difference changes almost everything about the material. Raw collagen does not dissolve in water and gelatine gels when it cools; collagen peptides dissolve in cold water and do not gel. That is why the collagen in a jar of powder is almost always hydrolysed. What collagen itself is, you can read in what is collagen.
What does hydrolysis mean?
Hydrolysis literally means "splitting with water", from the Greek hydor (water) and lysis (loosening). In a protein, the amino acids are linked by peptide bonds. During hydrolysis such a bond is broken by adding a water molecule to it; the chain splits in two at that point. Do that at hundreds of places in a collagen chain and you are left with short peptides.
On its own, that reaction is very slow. To make it happen in hours instead of years, the industry uses enzymes, protein-splitting enzymes (proteases), of the same kind found in pineapple and papaya. Chemical hydrolysis with acid or alkali also exists, but for collagen powder enzymatic hydrolysis is the standard: it works at low temperature, can be controlled precisely and leaves the amino acids intact.
How is collagen hydrolysed? The process in six steps
- Raw material. Bovine hide or fish skin, by-products of the food industry. The raw material determines the source on the label: beef (bovine) or fish (marine).
- Pre-treatment. The raw material is washed, degreased and treated with an acid or with lime for a few days to weeks. That releases the collagen from the fibre structure. For fish the acid route is common, for bovine hide often the lime route.
- Extraction. Warm water brings the collagen into solution. At this point it is gelatine: long chains of tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of daltons, which form a gel when they cool.
- Enzymatic hydrolysis. Proteases are added to the warm gelatine solution. At a controlled temperature and acidity they cut the chains into peptides. The producer uses time, temperature and choice of enzyme to determine how short the chains become; this is called the degree of hydrolysis. The enzyme is then deactivated by heating.
- Purification. The solution is filtered, demineralised, concentrated and sterilised.
- Spray-drying. The concentrate is atomised into a stream of hot air and dries within seconds into a fine, white to pale yellow powder. That powder is collagen hydrolysate, ready to be packed.
Producers such as GELITA in Germany and Weishardt in France do this on an industrial scale and supply the powder under a brand name, for example VERISOL® or NATICOL®, to supplement brands. What the brand does after that is pack it, or blend it with other ingredients.
Hydrolysed collagen, gelatine and collagen: the difference
The three substances come from the same raw material and consist of the same amino acids. The difference lies in the chain length, and therefore in how the material behaves.
| Collagen (natural) | Gelatine | Hydrolysed collagen | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chain length | Three chains of more than 1,000 amino acids in a spiral | Separate, long chains | Short chains of about 20 to 50 amino acids |
| Molecular weight | About 300,000 daltons | Tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of daltons | 2,000 to 5,000 daltons |
| In cold water | Does not dissolve | Swells, dissolves when heated, gels when cooling | Dissolves, even when cold |
| Bloom value (gel strength) | Not applicable | 50 to 300 bloom | 0, does not gel |
| Typical use | Raw material | Sweets, desserts, capsules, gelatine sheets | Collagen powder, drinks, bars |
The bloom value is the measure the gelatine industry uses for gel strength. Collagen hydrolysate has no bloom value, because it does not gel: the chains are too short to form a network. That is the practical reason you can stir a scoop of collagen powder into a glass of cold water without it turning into a pudding.
Molecular weight: what daltons tell you and what they don't
The dalton (Da) is the unit for the mass of a molecule; one dalton is roughly the mass of one hydrogen atom. A collagen peptide of 2,000 daltons consists of around twenty amino acids, one of 5,000 daltons of about fifty. Producers often state an average molecular weight, because a hydrolysate is always a mixture of shorter and longer pieces.
The figure tells you something about the process: the lower it is, the further the hydrolysis has gone, the better the powder dissolves and the less it foams and tastes. On its own it says nothing about the raw material, the purity or the producer. Whether a lower molecular weight makes any difference to what happens in your body afterwards is exactly the kind of statement a seller is not allowed to make; we leave it at the figure.
Why collagen powder is hydrolysed
Four practical reasons, all of which you can check with a glass of water and a pair of scales:
- It dissolves in cold and hot drinks. Coffee, tea, water, a smoothie or yoghurt: a scoop disappears into it. Gelatine would clump and set as it cools.
- It has a neutral taste. The further it is hydrolysed, the less taste and smell of its own it has. You can hardly taste a good hydrolysate.
- It can be dosed precisely. A scoop is a fixed number of grams of protein. With stock or meat you never know how much collagen you are getting; with powder it is on the packaging.
- It keeps well and stays dry. Spray-dried powder contains little moisture and keeps for a long time in a closed jar, without refrigeration and without the need for a preservative.
How to use it in practice, from coffee to smoothie bowl, is described in collagen powder in drinks and recipes.
Is all collagen powder hydrolysed?
Practically, yes. Powder that dissolves in a drink is by definition hydrolysed; otherwise it would not dissolve. Most collagen capsules and tablets also contain the same hydrolysate, just in small portions of half a gram to one gram per capsule. Anyone who wants to take 5 or 10 grams a day therefore needs five to twenty capsules, which is the practical argument for powder.
The exception is undenatured type 2 collagen from chicken, which has deliberately not been broken down and is sold in capsules with a dose of a few tens of milligrams. That is a different product with a different raw material, not collagen powder. You can read more about the types in types of collagen.
Hydrolysed collagen on the label: the names
On the ingredients list you will come across different names that all amount to the same thing:
- Hydrolysed collagen, collagen hydrolysate and collagen peptides: three English names for collagen that has been cut into short chains. American labels spell it hydrolyzed.
- Gehydrolyseerd collageen, collageenhydrolysaat and collageenpeptiden: the Dutch equivalents, which you will see on products sold in the Netherlands and Belgium.
- Bovine means from beef, marine from fish. Type 1 is the type that comes from bovine hide and fish skin.
- Brand names such as VERISOL®, NATICOL®, Peptan® or Solugel® are hydrolysates from a specific producer, with a defined raw material and a defined process. If a brand name is stated, you know who made it. If it only says "hydrolysed collagen", you don't.
What to look for in hydrolysed collagen
The question "what is the best hydrolysed collagen" cannot be answered with a single brand name, but it can with a checklist you can run through on any label:
- A named raw material. Is the producer or the branded ingredient stated on the jar? Then the origin can be verified.
- Source and type. Beef or fish, and type 1 when it comes to powder. Choose based on what you eat: if you don't eat beef, choose fish, and vice versa.
- Grams per daily serving. Many powders dose 2.5 grams per scoop, others 5 or 10 grams. Without that figure, two jars cannot be compared.
- Servings per jar. Contents divided by the daily serving. A 300-gram jar is 60 servings of 5 grams or 30 of 10 grams.
- One ingredient or a blend. Some powders also contain vitamins, flavourings, sweeteners or hyaluronic acid. That is not a problem, but you pay for it and you are no longer comparing collagen with collagen.
- Production standards and country. ISO 9001 and FSSC 22000 are the common standards for food production; "produced in Europe" can be verified, "premium" cannot.
- Price per gram. Divide the price by the number of grams of collagen, not by the number of jars or sachets. That is the only fair comparison.
This is how our own powder scores on that list: Earth is VERISOL® from GELITA (Germany, bovine hide), Sea is NATICOL® from Weishardt (France, 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, hydrolysed or not. We therefore make no statements about what collagen peptides do in your body, nor about whether shorter chains make a difference to that. What we do tell you is how it is made, what is in it and how to use it. Why those rules exist, you can read in what is a collagen brand actually allowed to promise.
Frequently asked questions about hydrolysed collagen
What is hydrolysed collagen?
Collagen whose long protein chains have been cut with enzymes into short chains of 2,000 to 5,000 daltons, the collagen peptides. As a result it dissolves in cold water and does not gel. It is the form of collagen found in collagen powder.
Is hydrolysed collagen the same as collagen peptides?
Yes. Hydrolysed collagen, collagen hydrolysate and collagen peptides are three names for the same substance. So are the Dutch terms "collageenpeptiden" and "gehydrolyseerd collageen".
What is the difference between hydrolysed collagen and gelatine?
Gelatine is collagen that has been extracted from the raw material with warm water but still has long chains: it gels when it cools. Hydrolysed collagen has then been cut further with enzymes, dissolves in cold water and does not gel.
What does the molecular weight in daltons mean?
The average weight of the peptides in the powder. The lower it is, the further the hydrolysis has gone and the better the powder dissolves. The figure says nothing about the raw material or the producer.
Is all collagen powder hydrolysed?
Powder that dissolves in a drink is, and most capsules contain the same hydrolysate in small portions. The exception is undenatured type 2 from chicken, which has not been broken down and is sold separately.
What is the best hydrolysed collagen?
That depends on what you can verify: a named raw material, the source (beef or fish), type 1, the number of grams per daily serving, one ingredient, production standards and the price per gram. A powder that is transparent on all those points can be compared; a powder that only puts "hydrolysed collagen" on the label cannot.
Sources
European Commission, EU Register of nutrition and health claims. NVWA (Dutch food and consumer product safety authority), 11 August 2025. Product specifications VERISOL® (GELITA) and NATICOL® (Weishardt).
