The key difference between collagen and gelatine is that collagen is a structural protein found in skin and other connective tissues of animals whereas gelatine is irreversibly hydrolyzed collagen.
Collagen is the most abundant protein in mammals. Therefore, it contains about 25 – 35% of total body proteins. It has many applications in medicine for treating disorders regarding connective tissues. Gelatine is a common jelling agent that has many applications in food industry. We can produce this compound from collagen that we obtain from body parts of animals such as cattle, chicken, and pigs that are domesticated.
CONTENTS
1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Collagen
3. What is Gelatine
4. Side by Side Comparison – Collagen vs Gelatine in Tabular Form
5. Summary
What is Collagen?
Collagen is the main structural protein found in skin and other connective tissues. It also is the most abundant protein in mammals (25 – 35% of body protein). Furthermore, this compound forms form the combination of amino acids. We can recognize the chemical structure of this compound as a triple-helicase which forms elongated fibrils. The most common tissues of our body where we can find collagen are in fibrous tissues such as tendons, ligaments, and skin.
Figure 01: Triple Helix of Collagen
The nature of collagen can be either rigid or compliant. But sometimes, it may have a rigid to compliant nature depending on the degree of mineralization. Ex: collagen is in rigid form, in bones, compliant at tendons and intermediate at cartilage. Being a structural protein, this compound has many medical uses in treating disorders of bones and skin. It is widely used in the purified form for cosmetic surgical treatments as well.
What is Gelatine?
Gelatine is a colorless and translucent food derived from collagen. This compound gets collagen from various body parts of animals, i.e. skin, bones, connective tissues of domestic cattle, chicken, pig, fish, etc. This compound is brittle when dry. We can produce this compound from irreversible hydrolysis of collagen. It has many uses in food industry as a jelling agent and also in the pharmaceutical industry for drug production. Moreover, it is useful in photography, in the production of vitamin capsules and in cosmetic manufacturing as well.
Figure 02: Gelatine is useful as a Jelling Agent in Food Production
This compound has proteins and peptides. These proteins and peptides hydrolyze partially to form gelatine. There, the natural molecular bonds between collagen strands are broken down to rearrange, forming gelatine. This compound is available as a dry powder in the market. It readily dissolves in hot/boiling water and sets to form a gel when cooling down. But if we dissolve it in cold water, it does not dissolve that much.
In addition, this compound dissolves in many polar solvents. When dissolved, it is a highly viscoelastic liquid. It is a best-selling jelling agent in cooking. In addition, theater lightening equipment also uses this compound as color gels to change the color of the beam. Apart from that, cosmetics also contain this compound in the name “hydrolyzed collagen”.
What is the Difference Between Collagen and Gelatine?
Collagen is the main structural protein found in skin and other connective tissues. It is a naturally occurring protein. This compound has a triple-helical structure that forms elongated fibrils. Gelatine is a colorless and translucent food derived from collagen. We can produce this compound from collagen via irreversible hydrolysis. Moreover, it forms by breaking down and rearranging the molecular bonds between the protein and peptides of collagen. This is the main difference between collagen and gelatine.
Summary – Collagen vs Gelatine
Collagen is a protein. it has many uses in medicine for treating disorders of body parts because it is the main structural protein of our connective tissues. Gelatine, on the other hand, is a product that we can produce from collagen. The difference between collagen and gelatine is that collagen is a structural protein found in skin and other connective tissues of animals whereas gelatine is irreversibly hydrolyzed collagen.
Reference:
1. “Collagen.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 27 June 2018. Available here
2. “Properties & Advantages.” GME – GELATINE MANUFACTURERES OF EUROPE, 24 Jan. 2018. Available here
Image Courtesy:
1.’1bkv collagen 03’By Nevit Dilmen – Own work (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia
2.’Bavarian cream with strawberries’ By SKopp – Own work, (CC BY-SA 3.0) via Commons Wikimedia