Application of ultrasonic treatment to extraction of collagen from the skins of sea bass Lateolabrax japonicus

This study investigates an efficient method to extract collagen from the skins of sea bass. The ultrasonic treatment (20 kHz with amplitude of 20–80 %) was applied to fish skin for 24 h after the addition of 0.01, 0.05, and 0.1 M acetic acid (1:200 sample/acetic acid, w/v). As a result, the rate (Ki) of the collagen yield increased depending on the amount of acid added, the duration of ultrasonic treatment and the amplitude of the ultrasonic waves. The subunit compositions of the extracted components were analyzed by SDS-PAGE, and the main components were determined as collagen, including the α1 (α3), α2, β, and γ chains. And in addition to collagen, some unknown components were also observed after a longer period of ultrasonic treatment. Therefore, we had to optimize the efficient extraction conditions for pure collagen while minimizing the creation of unknown components. The most effective extraction condition for collagen by ultrasonic treatment was 80 % amplitude with 0.1 M acetic acid for 3 h of treatment. It was found that the component extracted by the ultrasonic treatment was indeed collagen, since there were no changes in the main components of collagen after pepsin treatment.