Leiner Davis Gelatin - Structure Gelatin is obtained by a controlled hydrolysis from the fibrous insoluble protein collagen, which is widely found in nature being the major constituent of skin, bones and connective tissue. Being a protein, gelatin is composed of a unique sequence of amino acids. Characteristic features of gelatin are the high content of the amino acids glycine, proline and hydroxyproline. These sequences are responsible for the triple helical structure of gelatin and its ability to form gels where helical regions form in the gelatin protein chains immobilizing water. The raw materials, type of pre-treatment and gelatin extraction conditions all affect the molecular distribution of the gelatin polypeptides obtained during manufacture.
Commercial gelatins are a heterogeneous protein mixture of polypeptide chains.
Gelatin molecules are quite large with molecular weight ranging from a few thousand up to several hundred thousand daltons. The molecular weight distribution of gelatin has a great bearing on the physical properties of gelatin and particularly affects viscosity and gel strength values.