What is gelatin made of

We all know that bird's nest is a tonic with very high nutritional value. It has great benefits for the elderly, children and pregnant women. Therefore, the selling price of bird's nest is extremely high. At this time, some unscrupulous merchants will add gelatin to the bird's nest. In fact, gelatin is a kind of protein. It is made by boiling animal skins or bones into water, and the price of gelatin is not expensive.

What is Gelatin

Gelatin is a water-soluble protein mixture. It is produced by partial hydrolysis of collagen in skin, ligaments and tendons with acid or alkali or by boiling in water. It is colorless or slightly yellowish transparent crisp flakes or coarse powder. It swells in water at 35-40°C to form a gel (containing 5-10 times its own weight in water). It is a nutritionally incomplete protein that lacks certain essential amino acids, especially tryptophan. It is widely used in food and in the production of adhesives, photographic films, filters, etc. Commonly used to make jellies and other desserts, it is made from boiled animal bones, skin and tendons. One alternative is agar-agar, made from seaweed; another is made from kudzu root. Agar-agar sold generally comes in noodle-like strips, powder, or long blocks, and is often off-white in color.

How to distinguish edible gelatin from industrial gelatin

The difference between industrial gelatin and edible gelatin is not noticeable. The lack of detection methods leads to the possibility of illegal use of industrial gelatin, just like the previous failure to detect melamine. The product passed the test but is not safe.

How to stay away from gelatin

The role of gelatin

Gelatin is soluble in hot water to form a thermoreversible gel, which has extremely excellent physical properties, such as gelling power, affinity, high dispersibility, low viscosity, dispersion stability, and water retention. Gelatin has the properties of coating, toughness and reversibility, so it is an important food additive, such as a gelling agent and stabilizer for food. Thickener, foaming agent. Emulsifiers, dispersants, clarifiers, etc. are widely used. In addition to the industrial uses of gelatin, edible gelatin and medicinal gelatin are also widely used. Therefore, except for the gelatin used in Olejian shark liver oil pills, other Olejian capsule-type health products basically use gelatin.