Application

Gelatin has various industrial applications such as stabilizer, thickener, and texturizer in foods. It is also used in the manufacture of rubber substitutes, adhesives, cements, lithographic and printing inks, plastic compounds, artificial silk, photographic plates and films, matches, and light filters for mercury lamps. In the pharmaceutical industry, gelatin is used as a suspending agent, encapsulating agent and tablet binder. In veterinary applications it is used as a plasma expander and hemostatic sponge.

This product is recommended for use as a cell culture substratum at 1-5 μg/cm² or 0.5-50 μg/mL. The optimal concentration does depend on cell type as well as the application and research objectives. Gelatin was used for coating cell culture to improve attachment of cells, in addition to PCR to help stabilize Taq DNA. It was used as a blocking reagent in Western blotting, ELISA, and immunohistochemistry. Gelatin can also be used as a component of media for species differentiation in bacteriology. Gelatin is a biocompatible polymer and has been used as delivery vehicle for the release of bioactive compounds and in the generation of scaffolds for engineering applications. It was used to test keratinocyte growth factor stimulation of gelatinase (matrix metalloproteinase-9) and plasminogen activator in histiotypic epithelial cell culture. It was also used to study the changes in the nucleolar organizer regions in the tuberomammillar region after dehydration.

Caution

Dry gelatin, when stored in airtight containers at room temperature, will remain unchanged for many years. When heated at 100°C in the presence of air, it swells becomes soft and disintegrates to a carbonaceous mass with evolution of pyridine bases and ammonia.

Components

Gelatin is a heterogeneous mixture of water-soluble proteins of high average molecular masses, present in collagen. Proteins are extracted by boiling the relevant skin, tendons, ligaments, bones, etc. in water. Type A gelatin is derived from acid-cured tissue. Type B is derived from lime-cured tissue.

Packaging

25, 100, 500 g in poly bottle

1 kg in poly bottle

Preparation Note

This product is derived from bovine skin. Gelatin is soluble in hot than in cold water. It is practically insoluble in most organic solvents such as alcohol, chloroform, carbon disulfide, carbon tetrachloride, ether, benzene, acetone, and oils. The Bloom number, determined by the Bloom gelometer, is an indication of the strength of a gel formed from a solution of the known concentration. The Bloom number is proportional to the average molecular mass. Bloom numbers of porcine skin Gelatin vary from 90 to 300 g. This product has a gel strength of 50−120.