MAKE-UP AT ITS BEST FROM WITHIN - MY DIET REGIME - CHICKEN FEET

Whenever I go dim sum restaurant, this is my MUST HAVE dish!

Chicken feet are a popular and traditional element of Asian cuisine. The edible part of chicken feet consists of skin and tendons, with the remainder being bones and cartilage. Chicken feet are valued in Chinese folk medicine for their high collagen content, which may lower blood pressure. Chinese dim sum restaurants often serve chicken feet as soups and stews.

A person’s skin began to accelerate ageing after 25 years old, this is because moisture and collagen of the true cortex lost. This shows, if you want to anti-aging, you must supply collagen for the skin in time.

Today everyone love foods containing nutrition, so what food can supply collagen for skin?

Collagen exist mostly in the animal, in addition to the popular pig’s knuckles, skin.

Food rich in collagen: all cattle, chicken feet, chicken, chicken skin, fish skin, shark’s fin and cartilage, pig’s knuckles , pigskin and bone has a layer of sticky colloid, which eat up soft and flexible, this is collagen.

These food form “aspic” and “process” after cooking, after cooling, is collagen after adding water boil into sol, then cooling form gel.

Fish collagen’s structure is most close to human body, and it is the most easy to body tissues of collagen protein absorption identification. Fish collagen protein main sources of deep sea fish is the cartilage. In order to make the food of collagen released, with stew, boil, burning and cook soup are the best way.

What is Collagen?

Collagen is a type of protein. Fibrous in nature, it connects and supports other bodily tissues, such as skin, bone, tendons, muscles, and cartilage. It also supports the internal organs and is even present in teeth. There are more than 25 types of collagens that naturally occur in the body.

Collagen is one of the most plentiful proteins present in the bodies of mammals, including humans. In fact, it makes up about 25 percent of the total amount of proteins in the body. Some people refer to collagen as the glue that holds the body together. Without it, the body would, quite literally, fall apart.

Possessing great tensile strength, collagen functions in a manner that is very different from many other types of proteins. For example, it can be found both inside and outside of cells. Collagen fibers are important in contributing to the external structure of cells. However, they are present on the inside of some cells as well.

Collagen works hand-in-hand with elastin in supporting the body’s tissues. Basically, it gives body tissues form and provides firmness and strength; elastin gives the same body tissues much need flexibility. This combination of collagen and elastin is very important in many parts of the body, including, but not limited to, the lungs, bones, and tendons. Even the blood vessels rely on both collagen and elastin.

Often, collagen is discussed in relation to the skin. It works with keratin to provide the skin with strength, flexibility, and resilience. As people age, however, collagen degradation occurs, leading to wrinkles. As such, it is an important substance for those looking for ways to fight the visible effects of aging on the skin. Some skincare professionals actually advise people on ways to stimulate the production of collagen in skin cells.

In addition to being so important in the body, collagen also has many medical uses. It is used in some cosmetic surgery procedures and is sold as a supplement created for joint mobility. It is even used in treating and managing serious burns. For this purpose, it is used in creating man-made skin substitutes.

Since collagens are so important within the body, it stands to reason that collagen deficiencies can be problematic. In fact, there are some genetic diseases that are associated with collagen deficiencies. For example, osteogenesis imperfecta, commonly referred to as brittle bone disease, results from a significantly decreased level of collagen. It can also result from the presence of collagen that is of lower quality than normal.

Reference: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-collagen.htm

What are chicken feet?

Chicken feet are exactly what they sound like: the feet of a chicken. When detached from the chicken, chicken feet are considered a culinary delicacy in some regions of the world, most notably in China and South Africa. Chicken feet have also played a role in the cuisines of Eastern Europe and the American South, where people often come up with creative ways to use offal, ensuring that every part of the animal is utilized to its fullest potential.

A glance at your own feet will give you an idea of what's involved in chicken feet: a series of small bones, tendons and skin. Chicken feet do not have very much muscle, and they are also extremely high in collagen, so they tend to cook down into a gelatinous mass, with the tendons and skin adding a chewy texture. The high collagen, incidentally, makes chicken feet great for skin, hair, and nails, if consumed in large quantities.

In China, chicken feet are commonly on the menu at many dim sum restaurants as “phoenix talons,” and the menu may also include duck feet. Chicken feet are also sold as street food, often deep fried, in other parts of Asia. Many old-fashioned cooks swear by chicken feet as an ingredient in soup stock, arguing that the chicken feet increase the gelatine content, and make the stock richer and more flavourful.

Reference: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-chicken-feet.htm

Extraction and characterization of collagen from chicken feet 

M. VITTAYANONT and S. Benjakul. Dept. of Food Technology, Prince of Songkla Univ., Had Yai, Songkhla, 90112, Thailand

Chicken feet are low value by-product of poultry meat industry. The components of chicken foot, skin tendon and cartilage, possess high content of collagen. Study of the extraction and characteristics of collagen from chicken feet could lead to higher utilization of this by-product.

We aimed to study the pre-treatment methods for collagen extraction from chicken feet and to investigate some characteristics of the extracted collagen. Broiler feet were ground, washed and defatted. Collagen was then extracted with acetic acid at 4oC. The extract was filtered and the acid solubilized collagen (ASC) was separated from the filtrate by salting-out. The acid insoluble part was subjected to limited proteolysis by pepsin, filtered and salted-out to obtain pepsin solubilized collagen (PSC).

To study pre-treatment methods, the defatted sample was either soaked in NaOH or in flavozyme before extraction by acetic acid. After dialysis and freeze-drying, the ASC and PSC were characterized for their amino acid composition, thermal transition, and molecular weight profile by HPLC, DSC and SDS-PAGE, respectively. The yields of ASC and PSC extracted from chicken feet were 1.3% and 11.4% dry weight, respectively. The alkaline and enzyme pre-treatments increased the yield of ASC by 2.5 and 9 times, respectively. Electrophoregram showed that collagen from chicken feet was type one. No difference between peptide pattern of ASC from alkaline pretreated and non-pretreated sample while slight decrease of alpha-chain size of enzyme pretreated ASC and PSC were observed. The DSC results indicated high Tm (42o C) and onset temperature (40o C) of PSC and ASC from both non-pretreated and pretreated samples. Our results show that properly treating chicken feet with protease can increase the yield of ASC for at least 9 times without altering its major characteristics.

The high transition temperature indicates high potential use of chicken feet as an alternative source of collagen for many industries.

Reference: http://ift.confex.com/ift/2005/techprogram/paper_31440.htm

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