Gelatin is a very popular pharmaceutical and food ingredient and the most studied ingredient in Halal researches. Interest in source gelatin authentication is based on religious and cultural beliefs, food fraud prevention and health issues. Seven gelatin authentication methods that have been developed include: nucleic acid based, immunochemical, electrophoretic analysis, spectroscopic, mass-spectrometric, chromatographic-chemometric and chemisorption methods. These methods are time consuming, and require capital intensive equipment with huge running cost. Reliability of gelatin authentication methods is challenged mostly by transformation of gelatin during processing and close similarities among gelatin structures. This review concisely presents findings and challenges in this research area and suggests needs for more researches on development of rapid authentication method and process-transformed gelatins.
The consumers interest in gelatin authentication is high due to allergic reactions and adoption of Halal and Kosher eating cultures. This research investigated browning development due to enzymatic hydrolysis and presence of Cu(2+) during Maillard reaction of fish, porcine, and bovine gelatin. The rate of browning index samples showed two phases-rapid and slow-for all the gelatin samples and changes in browning index (ΔBindex) were increased (>100%) in presence of Cu(2+). ΔBindex of enzymatic hydrolysates were different among the gelatin species. Fish gelatin hydrolyzate displayed > 400% increase in browning in the first six hours compared to gelatin hydrolyzates from porcine (200%) and bovine (140%). The variation in ΔBindex of chymotrypsin digested gelatin in presence of Cu(2+) could be valuable for the development of an efficient UV-spectroscopic method for gelatin differentiation.