Does plant-based collagen actually exist?

With evolving needs, bovine, porcine, avian, ovine, or marine collagen does not align with the vegan lifestyle of certain individuals. Thus, recently, an equivalent active ingredient, allegedly extracted from various plants, has appeared. It would be a "greener" and more environmentally friendly alternative, involving neither intensive fishing nor animal exploitation. This collagen vegan would function in the same way as animal-derived collagen.

Make no mistake: from a biological standpoint, there is no plant-based source of collagen, simply because plants neither produce nor contain it.

The collagen is a structural protein found exclusively in the animal kingdom. It provides mechanical resistance to stretching and structural support to many of the body's connective tissues. The collagen also acts as a signaling molecule that controls the biological functions and behavior of cells during tissue development, growth, and repair. Thus, it is found in many parts of the human body, including the skin, bones, ligaments, cartilage, muscles, blood vessels, etc.

Thus, labeling it as “vegan” or “plant-based” is not scientifically accurate. In fact, the “plant collagen” currently on the market is actually glycoproteins extracted from yeast, which are said to exhibit properties similar to those of the collagen naturally present in the body. As a reminder, glycoproteins are heteroproteins composed of a polypeptide chain covalently linked to one or more oligosaccharide (complex sugar) groups to form water-soluble compounds.

This source of collagen would provide the building blocks (amino acids) for its biosynthesis in specialized cells (fibroblasts, chondrocytes). However, unlike animal-derived collagen, it cannot act as a ligand—that is, bind to fibroblast membrane receptors and stimulate new collagen production. Moreover, plant proteins neither contain all of the amino acids found in collagen nor have them in the proper proportions; therefore, they cannot claim to rebuild collagen with this partial contribution.

Collagen consists of three polypeptide chains composed of several amino acids, among which glycine, proline, hydroxylysine, and hydroxyproline are unique to it.

Which type of collagen is used in Typology treatments?

In line with our ethical and environmental commitments, we have chosen to incorporate in our treatments a recombinant collagen derived from plant cell cultures and produced through bioengineering. It delivers performance equivalent to that of animal- or marine-sourced collagen.

More precisely, our plant-based collagen is a biomimetic fragment of the native human type I collagen sequence, with the necessary post-translational hydroxylations for optimal function. This fragment was cloned into an expression vector, transcribed in vitro, and then introduced into plant cells of Nicotiana benthamiana, where it is subsequently expressed.

• Supplier document.

• NAING M. W. & al. Production of recombinant collagen: State of the art and challenges. Engineering Biology (2017).

• FERTALA A. Three decades of research on recombinant collagens: Reinventing the wheel or developing new biomedical products? Bioengineering (2020).

• WANG S. & al. Advances in molecular function and recombinant expression of human collagen. Pharmaceuticals (2025).