Collagen derived species-specific peptides for distinguishing donkey-hide gelatin (Asini Corii Colla)

OBJECTIVE: As an important food therapy product with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) applications, donkey-hide gelatin (Asini Corii Colla, ACC) has been used for thousands of years. However, till now few effective strategy had been proposed to distinguish ACC from other animal hide gelatins, especially closely related horse- and mule-hide gelatins, which was an embarrassment of ACC quality control. METHODS: Combined mass spectrometry and bioinformatic methods have been applied to identify and verify two ACC-specific peptides (Pep-1 and Pep-2) capable of distinguishing ACC from other closely related animal gelatins with high selectivity. RESULTS: It confirmed that these two peptides could be not only used for distinguishing ACC from highly homologous horse-hide and mule-hide gelatins as well as other animal hide gelatins. CONCLUSION: The present study provides a simple method for species-specific peptides discovery, which can be used for assessing the quality of animal gelatin products, and ensure they are authenticable and traceable.