Microstructural, rheological, gel-forming and interfacial properties of camel skin gelatin

The major challenge addressed in this study was to explore the effect of various extraction conditions for gelatin recovered from camel skin and investigate the effect on microstructural, rheological, gelation and interfacial properties. The results revealed that yield of gelatin extracted at high temperature (70 °C) was higher than that of gelatin extracted at low temperature (60 °C). However, the gel strength decreased with increase in extraction time from 5 to 9 h. Overall, it was found that gelatin extracted at 70 °C for 5 h displayed a very good gel strength (257 g) and high yield (14.1%). Protein patterns showed that all gelatin samples contained α₁, α₂ and β-chains. Structural analysis demonstrated that all gelatin samples showed a more or less similar spectrum with the presence of Amide I, II, amide III, Amide-A and Amide-B, but the intensity of different peaks were lowest at 70 °C and 9 h extraction conditions. Microstructural characterization revealed that gelatin extracted for 9 h displayed loose network with visible voids compared to those extracted for 5 and 7 h at both temperatures. Overall, gelatin extracted at 70 °C for 5 h displayed high gel strength, yield and compact microstructural features.