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Red leather in valuable products

Matís and the start-up company Codland have worked on projects where the goal is to utilize skin in valuable products.

In the project Bioactive substances from redness funded by the Rannís Technology Development Fund, the aim is to investigate whether substances found in erythema have bioactivity, such as antihypertensive properties or can prevent calcification of cartilage cells. The project began in 2015 and is for two years.

Collagen is becoming increasingly popular as an active ingredient in various consumer products, but research indicates that there is a link between regular consumption of the substance and positive effects on the skin and joints. The world market for collagen-containing supplements is large and mainly made from pigs. Estimates assume increased demand for collagen peptides made from wild fish, so this is an ideal opportunity for Icelandic production.

The project Hydrolyzed collagen from the raw material of fish processing which is funded by the Nordic Innovation Center is developed in collaboration with the Norwegian company Biomega, the Danish University of Technology (DTU) and Biosustain also in Denmark together with Matís and Codland. The aim of this project is to develop new enzymes to process collagen from extra raw materials from white wild fish such as cod and fatty fish such as salmon.

For further information Margrét Geirsdóttir at Matís.

From a meeting in the project "Hydrolyzed collagen from by-products of fish processing" in Norway in October 2016. Peter Kamp Busk DTU, Hemanshu Mundhada Biosustain, Margrét Geirsdóttir Matís, Alex Toftgård Nielsen Biosustain, Davíð Tómas Davíðsson Codland, Lene Lange DTU and Jan Arne Vevatne Biomega.

Tómas Þór Eiríksson, CEO of Codland, and Oddur Már Gunnarsson Matís sign a co-operation agreement between the companies.

Part of the employees and students who have been involved in the collagen projects at a meeting in Sauðárkrókur in May 2016. From left to right: Dagný Björk Aðalsteinsdóttir MS student at the University of Iceland, Maxime Clays from Belgium, Yonathan Souid from France, center row: Margrét Geirsdóttir Matís, Eva Kuttner Matís Sauðárkrókur, Thomas Degrange France, front row Hilma Eiðsdóttir Bakken, Margrét Eva Ásgeirsdóttir and Guðrún Kristín Eiríksdóttir Matís Sauðárkrókur, Rodrigo Melgosa from Spain.

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