Does plant-based collagen really exist?

With evolving needs, bovine, porcine, avian, ovine or marine collagen does not align with the vegan lifestyle of some individuals. Thus, until recently, an equivalent active ingredient extracted from various plants has emerged. This would be a alternative "greener" and more environmentally friendly, 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 present 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 signalling molecule that controls biological functions and cellular behaviour during development, growth and tissue repair. It is thus found in many parts of the human body, including the skin, bones, ligaments, cartilage, muscles, blood vessels, etc.

Thus, labelling it as "vegan" or "vegetarian" is not scientifically accurate. In fact, the "plant-based collagen" currently on offer actually consists of glycoproteins extracted from yeast, which are claimed to exhibit properties similar to those of the collagen naturally present in the organism. As a reminder, glycoproteins are heteroproteins comprising a polypeptide chain covalently linked to one or more oligosaccharide (complex sugar) groups, forming water-soluble compounds.

This source of collagen would provide the constituent elements (amino acids) for its biosynthesis in specialised cells (fibroblasts, chondrocytes). However, unlike animal-derived collagen, it cannot function as a ligand, meaning it cannot bind to fibroblast membrane receptors and stimulate the production of new collagen. Moreover, plant proteins neither contain the full range of amino acids present in collagen nor in the correct proportions: they therefore cannot claim to reconstruct collagen with this partial provision.

Collagen consists of three polypeptide chains made up of various amino acids, of which glycine, proline, hydroxylysine and hydroxyproline are exclusive to it.

Which collagen is used in Typology skincare treatments?

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

More precisely, our plant-derived collagen is a biomimetic fragment of the native human type I collagen sequence, complete with the post-translational hydroxylations required for its optimal performance. This fragment was cloned into an expression vector, transcribed in vitro, 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).