FISH GELATIN, A NEW FOOD AND PHARMACEUTICAL INGREDIENT

A NEW FOOD AND PHARMACEUTICAL INGREDIENT, FISH GELATIN, IS UNDER DEVELOPMENT. SMALL SCALE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTION IS ANTICIPATED IN THE NEAR-TERM. THE INITIAL PRODUCT, BASED ON TILAPIA SKINS, HAS EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE PROPERTIES. HOWEVER, A WIDE VARIETY OF RAW MATERIALS WILL BE USED COMMERCIALLY. BECAUSE OF SPECIES RELATED AND SEASONAL VARIABILITY IN THE PHYSICO-CHEMICAL AND FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES OF THE GELATINS, EACH SPECIES MUST BE PHYSICO-CHEMICALLY AND FUNCTIONALLY CHARACTERIZED AND EVALUATED (IN FOOD SYSTEMS) AS A "PURE" RAW MATERIAL AND AS BLENDS (CROSS SPECIES INTERACTIONS). CHARACTERIZATION WILL INCLUDE SOLUTION RHEOLOGY, GEL PROPERTIES, EFFECT OF PROCESSING PARAMETERS, AND FOOD SYSTEM INTERACTIONS.