OBJECTIVETo study collagen structure of the traditional Chinese medicine elephant skin and the proposed alternatives such as pig skin, fish scale, and antioxidant activity.

METHODOrthogonal experimental design method was employed to determine the optimal extraction condition of collagen from the elephant skin, and the structure and content of collagen of proposed alternatives were compared, their scavenging ability were determined by salicylic acid.

RESULTCollagen extracted from elephant skin with the optimal conditions was the structural integrity and good quality first time, and collagen structure of the elephant skin was similar to the proposed alternatives. Free radical scavenging capacity of collagen, values of IC50, were 0.51 g x L(-1) of elephant skin, 0.60 g x L(-1) of pig skin and 0.42 g x L(-1) of fish scale.

CONCLUSIONBy comparing and identification of proteins that the collagen of elephant skin is type I collagen, with a strong antioxidant capacity, is the active ingredients of elephant skin. It provides a further study of alternatives as an important reference.