Chondroitin sulfate powder is a kind of mucopolysaccharide extracted from animal cartilage, which generally contains about 50-70 disaccharide units. It is one of the components of connective tissue matrix and the cofactor of glycoprotein. Chondroitin sulfate can absorb water into proteoglycan molecules, make cartilage thicker and like sponge, and increase the amount of synovial fluid in joints, so as to ease the impact and friction during action. The viscous polysaccharides it contains can rebuild joint cartilage, which is very helpful for cartilage degradation.
The cartilage in animals and human bodies is composed of chondrocytes and intercellular substance (matrix and fiber). The main component of the matrix is cartilage mucin, which is composed of Chondroitin sulfate, hyaluronic acid and protein. When the cartilage is impacted, it can instantly deform to reduce the impact force. With the increase of age, the ability of human body to synthesize Chondroitin decreases, leading to the decrease of cartilage elasticity, which is easy to cause Osteoarthritis and other diseases. Chondroitin sulfate can directly supplement cartilage matrix components, alleviate the degradation of cartilage components, promote the metabolism of chondrocytes, and alleviate rheumatism, arthritis, shoulder periarthritis, low back pain and other diseases.
Chondroitin sulfate is widely found in animal cartilage, monkey bone, bone tendon and other tissues, and the content of Chondroitin sulfate in cattle/pigs, ducks, fish and other animal cartilage products can reach 85%, 90%, 95% or more. China's annual sales of cattle, pigs, poultry and other animals rank among the top in the world, and its fishery is also very developed. Therefore, China is a major producer of Chondroitin sulfate raw materials. According to the data from Mi Nei Wang, the output of Chondroitin sulfate raw materials in China reached 6000 tons in 2012, accounting for about 80% of the world demand.
