Gelatin

Gelatin is one of the most versatile biopolymers and has numerous applications in food, confectionery, pharmaceutical/medical, cosmetic, and technical products. This is also reflected by the more than 300,000 metric tonnes of gelatin produced annually worldwide. Gelatin has been investigated and studied by scientists at least since the early twentieth century but was used in foods even before this. Gelatins are derived from the parent protein collagen and the origin of the parent collagen and the severity of the extraction procedures determine the properties of the final gelatin. Today gelatins are mainly produced from bovine and porcine sources, but gelatin may also be extracted from fish and poultry. This chapter focuses on the manufacturing of mammalian gelatin, and the coherence between the chemical compositions and the structure–function relationship of gelatins from mammalian sources, and from cold and warm water fish species.