title: Gelatin controversies in food, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products: Authentication methods, current status, and future challenges.
abstract: Gelatin is a highly purified animal protein of pig, cow, and fish origins and is extensively used in food, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products. However, the acceptability of gelatin products greatly depends on the animal sources of the gelatin. Porcine and bovine gelatins have attractive features but limited acceptance because of religious prohibitions and potential zoonotic threats, whereas fish gelatin is welcomed in all religions and cultures. Thus, source authentication is a must for gelatin products but it is greatly challenging due to the breakdown of both protein and DNA biomarkers in processed gelatins. Therefore, several methods have been proposed for gelatin identification, but a comprehensive and systematic document that includes all of the techniques does not exist. This up-to-date review addresses this research gap and presents, in an accessible format, the major gelatin source authentication techniques, which are primarily nucleic acid and protein based. Instead of presenting these methods in paragraph form which needs much attention in reading, the major methods are schematically depicted, and their comparative features are tabulated. Future technologies are forecasted, and challenges are outlined. Overall, this review paper has the merit to serve as a reference guide for the production and application of gelatin in academia and industry and will act as a platform for the development of improved methods for gelatin authentication.
authors.affiliation: a Nanotechnology and Catalysis Research Centre (NANOCAT) , University of Malaya , Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia.|b Centre for Research in Biotechnology for Agriculture (CEBAR) , University of Malaya , Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia.
authors.forename: Eaqub
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ali
authors.affiliation: a Nanotechnology and Catalysis Research Centre (NANOCAT) , University of Malaya , Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia.
authors.forename: Sharmin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sultana
authors.affiliation: a Nanotechnology and Catalysis Research Centre (NANOCAT) , University of Malaya , Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia.
authors.forename: Sharifah Bee Abd
authors.initials: SBA
authors.lastname: Hamid
authors.affiliation: a Nanotechnology and Catalysis Research Centre (NANOCAT) , University of Malaya , Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia.
authors.forename: Motalib
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hossain
authors.affiliation: a Nanotechnology and Catalysis Research Centre (NANOCAT) , University of Malaya , Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia.
authors.forename: Wageeh A
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Yehya
authors.affiliation: c School of Aquaculture and Fisheries , University of Malaysia Terrenganu , Kuala Terrenganu , Terrenganu , Malaysia.
authors.forename: Abdul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kader
authors.affiliation: d College of Science, Engineering and Health , RMIT University , Melbourne , VIC , Australia.
authors.forename: Suresh K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Bhargava
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D003358:Cosmetics / Q000032:analysis*; D004586:Electrophoresis; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005399:Fishes; D005503:Food Additives / Q000032:analysis*; D005504:Food Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D005524:Food Technology; D005780:Gelatin / Q000737:chemistry*; D005819:Genetic Markers; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations / Q000032:analysis*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013045:Species Specificity; D013552:Swine
chemical_list: D003358:Cosmetics; D005503:Food Additives; D005819:Genetic Markers; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D005780:Gelatin
keywords: Gelatin source authentication; biomarkers; multiplex platforms; pharmaceutical and personal care products; protein- and nucleic acid-based techniques