Crocodile Peptide
Crocodile Peptide is a protein hydrolysate produced from the meat, bone or skin of farmed crocodiles, principally the Siamese crocodile and the saltwater crocodile raised on licensed farms in southern China and Southeast Asia. Proteases break the muscle and connective tissue protein down into short peptides, most of the pool falling below 1000 daltons.
The ingredient sits in the same commercial category as other animal tissue peptides and is traded on peptide content and molecular weight distribution rather than on a marker compound. Peptide from crocodile skin and bone is collagen dominated and carries a high glycine, proline and hydroxyproline signature, while peptide from meat reflects the myofibrillar amino acid profile and is richer in the essential amino acids. Suppliers usually declare which tissue the material came from because the two behave differently.
Supply form is a light yellow to pale brown spray-dried powder with a mild savoury odour. Hydrolysis destroys the insolubility of the parent tissue, so the powder dissolves quickly and completely in cold water to give a low viscosity solution that does not gel, and the small peptides are stable through pasteurisation and across the pH range of ordinary beverages.
We source bulk Crocodile Peptide from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Shandong. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
or call +86-21-6858 0751
- Function
- Protein
Specifications
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Light yellow to pale brown fine powder |
| Odour and taste | Mild characteristic savoury note, slight bitterness |
| Identification | Conforms, molecular weight profile by gel permeation chromatography |
| Peptide content, dry basis | Minimum 65.0 percent |
| Protein, N x 6.25, dry basis | Minimum 80.0 percent |
| Fraction below 1000 daltons | Minimum 80.0 percent |
| Loss on drying | Maximum 7.0 percent |
| Ash | Maximum 8.0 percent |
| Fat | Maximum 1.0 percent |
| Solubility in water | Minimum 95.0 percent |
| pH, 1 percent solution | 5.0 to 7.0 |
| Lead | Maximum 0.5 mg per kg |
| Arsenic | Maximum 1.0 mg per kg |
| Mercury | Maximum 0.5 mg per kg |
| Total plate count | Maximum 10,000 CFU per gram |
| Yeast and mould | Maximum 100 CFU per gram |
| E. coli | Negative per gram |
| Salmonella | Negative per 25 gram |
Common Markets Grades
The first distinction is raw material. Meat-derived grades are sold as a general nutritional peptide, while skin and bone derived grades are effectively a crocodile collagen peptide and are specified on hydroxyproline as well as on peptide content. Mixed tissue grades are cheaper and carry a higher ash figure from residual bone mineral.
The second is assay and molecular weight. Standard material is specified at a minimum peptide content near 65 percent with at least 80 percent of the pool below 1000 daltons. Refined grades reach 85 percent or more after ultrafiltration and desalting, with a lower ash content and a paler colour. Decolourised and deodorised grades polished over activated carbon are specified where the material goes into a clear beverage; unrefined grades retain more colour and a stronger savoury note and are used in capsules, granules and traditional compound preparations. Both fine powder and freeze-dried formats are traded, freeze-dried material commanding a premium in the Chinese health food market. Most of the trade is food grade for supplement manufacture rather than bulk food protein.
Applications
- Capsules and tablets in respiratory and general tonic supplement ranges, following the traditional use of crocodile meat in southern China
- Instant granules and solid drinks dissolved in warm water, the dominant retail format in East Asian markets
- Functional shots and liquid tonics, where full cold water solubility allows a clear format
- Herbal compound formulations, where the peptide replaces dried crocodile powder for better dispersibility
- Skin and joint supplements, where skin and bone derived grades are positioned as a collagen peptide
- Sports and recovery powders blended with other animal and plant peptides
- Clinical and convalescent nutrition, where small peptides are absorbed more readily than intact protein
- Cosmetic serums and creams, where low molecular weight animal peptides act as humectants
China Manufacturers of Crocodile Peptide
Top Crocodile Peptide manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
Regulatory Status
Crocodile is a species listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, so international movement of crocodile derived material requires the relevant permits and proof that the animals came from a registered captive breeding operation. That documentation is the main compliance requirement for the ingredient and applies regardless of the food status of the finished powder.
In the United States there is no food additive regulation and no affirmed generally recognized as safe listing for crocodile peptide, and material would be handled as a dietary ingredient in supplements, where the pathway depends on demonstrating marketing history or filing a new dietary ingredient notification. Importation is additionally controlled under the Endangered Species Act and the Lacey Act.
In the European Union the hydrolysate carries no E number because it is not a food additive. A peptide preparation from crocodile has no significant history of consumption in the Union before May 1997 and would have to be assessed as a novel food under Regulation EU 2015/2283, and reptile derived raw material must satisfy the animal by-product and hygiene rules. In China crocodile is an approved farmed species for food use and the peptide is traded as a health food raw material. Codex has no commodity standard for the ingredient and JECFA has not evaluated it.
Manufacturing Process
The raw material is trimmed crocodile meat, skin or bone from licensed farming and slaughter operations. The tissue is washed, minced and, where skin or bone is used, degreased and demineralised with dilute acid to strip fat and calcium phosphate. It is then heated in water to denature the protein and, in the case of skin and bone, to release soluble gelatin from the collagen.
Hydrolysis is carried out with food grade proteases, generally an alkaline bacterial protease to cut the chains followed by a neutral protease or exopeptidase to reduce bitterness and drive the molecular weight down. Temperature and pH are held at the enzyme optimum until the target degree of hydrolysis is reached, after which the enzymes are heat inactivated. Fat and insoluble residue are removed by centrifugation and plate filtration, the liquor is ultrafiltered to fix the molecular weight distribution, then decolourised over activated carbon and desalted by nanofiltration or ion exchange. The concentrate is evaporated under vacuum and spray dried, or freeze dried where the premium format is required.
