Taiwanese researchers have recently developed a new and more cost-effective way to produce collagen. By extracting it from the pig lungs, the team is aiming make facial masks and other cosmetic products for the ladies in the near future. The new finding and the leading technology are expected to be published in an international journal next year.

Pork ribs, knuckles, and belly can be found in traditional markets around the island, but pork lungs are less common.

Compared to other internal organs, pork lungs are difficult to process and generally discarded or used for feed.

A domestic researcher recently discovered that collagen, which was mainly sourced from pig skin in the past, can be extracted from pork lungs.

Collagen can be found in animal muscles, blood vessels, and bones, and one kilogram of pig skin yields, on average, 12 grams of collagen.

While pork lungs yield only half that amount, the presence of fat in pig skin requires additional processing. In contrast, pork lungs only contain 1% fat and their collagen content can be easily extracted after dissolving the lungs in yeast.

The technology will be featured in the international publication "Food Chemistry" next year, and Chinese Culture University will be working with cosmetic manufacturers to produce collagen facial masks and other beauty products in the future.