Gelatin

<h2 >Medical and nutritional properties</h2>

<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amino_acid" title="Amino acid" >Amino acid</a> composition</div>

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Although gelatin is 98-99% protein by dry weight, it has less nutritional value than many other protein sources. Gelatin is unusually high in the non-essential <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amino_acid" title="Amino acid" >amino acids</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycine" title="Glycine" >glycine</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proline" title="Proline" >proline</a> (i.e., those produced by the human body), while lacking certain <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essential_amino_acid" title="Essential amino acid" >essential amino acids</a> (i.e., those not produced by the human body).

It contains no <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tryptophan" title="Tryptophan" >tryptophan</a> and is deficient in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isoleucine" title="Isoleucine" >isoleucine</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threonine" title="Threonine" >threonine</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methionine" title="Methionine" >methionine</a>. The approximate amino acid composition of gelatin is: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glycine" title="Glycine" >glycine</a> 21%, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proline" title="Proline" >proline</a> 12%, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxyproline" title="Hydroxyproline" >hydroxyproline</a> 12%, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutamic_acid" title="Glutamic acid" >glutamic acid</a> 10%, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alanine" title="Alanine" >alanine</a> 9%, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arginine" title="Arginine" >arginine</a> 8%, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartic_acid" title="Aspartic acid" >aspartic acid</a> 6%, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysine" title="Lysine" >lysine</a> 4%, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serine" title="Serine" >serine</a> 4%, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leucine" title="Leucine" >leucine</a> 3%, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valine" title="Valine" >valine</a> 2%,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenylalanine" title="Phenylalanine" >phenylalanine</a> 2%, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threonine" title="Threonine" >threonine</a> 2%, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isoleucine" title="Isoleucine" >isoleucine</a> 1%, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydroxylysine" title="Hydroxylysine" >hydroxylysine</a> 1%, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methionine" title="Methionine" >methionine</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histidine" title="Histidine" >histidine</a> <1% and<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyrosine" title="Tyrosine" >tyrosine</a> <0.5%. These values vary, especially the minor constituents, depending on the source of the raw material and processing technique.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-stevens-10" >[11]</a>

Several Russian researchers offer the following opinion regarding certain peptides found in gelatin: "gelatin peptides reinforce resistance of the stomach mucous tunic to ethanol and stress action, decreasing the ulcer area by twice."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-11" >[12]</a>

Gelatin is also a topical <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haemostatic" title="Haemostatic" class="mw-redirect" >haemostatic</a>. A piece of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorbable_gelatin_sponge" title="Absorbable gelatin sponge" >gelatin sponge</a> of appropriate size is applied on bleeding wound, pressed for some time and tied in bandage. Haemostatic action is based on platelets damage at the contact of blood with gelatin, which activates the coagulation cascade.

Gelatin also causes a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tamponading_effect&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Tamponading effect (page does not exist)" >tamponading effect</a> - blood flow stoppage into a blood vessel by a constriction of the vessel by an outside force.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-12" >[13]</a>

Gelatin has also been claimed to promote general joint health. A study at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_State_University" title="Ball State University" >Ball State University</a> sponsored by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabisco" title="Nabisco" >Nabisco</a>, the former parent company of Knox gelatin,<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-13" >[14]</a> found that gelatin supplementation relieved knee joint pain and stiffness in athletes.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-bsu-14" >[15]</a>

Oral gelatin consumption have been claimed to have beneficial therapeutic effect on hair loss in both men and women.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-15" >[16]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-16" >[17]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-17" >[18]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-18" >[19]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-19" >[20]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-20" >[21]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-21" >[22]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-22" >[23]</a>. In addition there are scientific publications that present evidences that consumption of oral gelatin has beneficial effect for some fingernail changes and diseases.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-23" >[24]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-24" >[25]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-25" >[26]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-26" >[27]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-27" >[28]</a>

Strict regulations apply for all steps in the gelatin manufacturing process. Gelatin is produced from natural raw materials which originate from animals that have been examined and accepted for human consumption by veterinary authorities. Hygienic regulations with respect to fresh raw materials are ensured and each batch of raw material delivered to the manufacturing plant is immediately checked and documented.[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" >citation needed</a>]

In addition to the raw material quality, also the production process itself is an effective quality assurance measure. In the production process a comprehensive monitoring system ensures that potential risks are minimized.[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" >citation needed</a>]

The U.S. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_and_Drug_Administration" title="Food and Drug Administration" >Food and Drug Administration</a> (FDA), with support from the TSE (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transmissible_spongiform_encephalopathy" title="Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy" >Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy</a>) Advisory Committee, has since 1997 been monitoring the potential risk of transmitting animal diseases, especially <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_spongiform_encephalopathy" title="Bovine spongiform encephalopathy" >bovine spongiform encephalopathy</a> (BSE), commonly known as Mad Cow disease. The FDA study concluded: "...steps such as heat, alkaline treatment, and filtration could be effective in reducing the level of contaminating TSE agents; however, scientific evidence is insufficient at this time to demonstrate that these treatments would effectively remove the BSE infectious agent if present in the source material."<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-28" >[29]</a>

The Scientific Steering Committee (SSC) of the European Union (EU) in 2003 stated that the risk associated with bovine bone gelatin is very low or zero.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-29" >[30]</a><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-30" >[31]</a> In 2006 the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Food_Safety_Authority" title="European Food Safety Authority" >European Food Safety Authority</a> (EFSA) stated that the SSC opinion was confirmed, that the BSE risk of bone-derived gelatin was very small, and removed support for the 2003 request of excluding the skull and vertebrae of bovine origin older than 12 months from the material used in gelatin manufacturing.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-31" >[32]</a>

All reputable gelatin manufacturers today follow the Quality Management System according to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_9001" title="ISO 9001" class="mw-redirect" >ISO 9001</a> to comply with all required physical, chemical, microbiological and technical production and quality standards. In this way all process steps follow international laws and customer-specific quality parameters and are guaranteed and documented. For pharmaceutical grade gelatins strict regulations from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European CPMP's regulation and European Pharmacopoeia must be met.

A detailed overview of the regulatory requirements for gelatin production can be found in the Gelatine Handbook, page 99-101.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin#cite_note-isbn3-527-31548-9-32" >[33]</a>

Gelatin

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