Recovery of Gelatin with Improved Functionality from Seafood Processing Waste

Abstract

Gelatin is a water-soluble protein prepared from the extraction of collagen which is present in various animal by-products. Though the most abundant sources of gelatin are pig skin, bovine hide, and pork and cattle bones, the market data show the increased preference and demand for fish gelatin due to socioreligious reasons. The vast diversity of available fish species has necessitated the need to develop and optimize extraction procedures to recover gelatin with desirable functional properties. During the last two decades, several researchers have explored various approaches to extract fish gelatin with improved functionality. The recovery of fish gelatin mainly encompasses the pretreatment of raw materials and extraction conditions. The extraction processes have been reported to influence the amino acid composition and molecular weight distribution of polypeptide chains and, consequently, the functional properties of the gelatin. The essentials of different extraction procedures from fish waste developed by various researchers, including optimization of the extraction process by response surface methodology and the influence of extraction parameters on the functional properties of extracted gelatin, are detailed in this chapter.