Gelatin production from red tilapia skin fish using high-pressure processing and its characterisations

Gelatin is a key ingredient widely used in the food industry. In recent years, alternative sources of gelatin, such as fish skin, have been explored. However, traditional extraction methods are time-consuming and environmentally harmful. High-Pressure Processing (HPP) has emerged as a novel and eco-friendly approach for gelatin extraction. Using HPP can reduce processing time and chemical waste, while also enhancing the properties and yield of gelatin. Gelatin produced through HPP method yields 1.24 times more than the conventional method (yields: 32.1 ± 1.81% and 25.8 ± 1.24%, respectively). Besides, gelatin concentration of both methods is not different significanly. Moreover, the functional groups and protein composition of gelatin obtained by the conventional and HPP methods are identical. This study found that HPP produces gelatin with a spongy microstructure and excellent gel strength. Notably, gelatin extracted from red tilapia using HPP exhibited a 1.45-fold higher gel strength than that extracted by the conventional method (gel strength 184 g and 128 g, respectively). However, applying high pressure (350 MPa) reduces the amino acid content of the extracted gelatin. This study determined that a pressure of 250 MPa is optimal for producing gelatin with desirable characteristics using the HPP method. To achieve high-quality gelatin from fish skin, further optimisation of the HPP process is necessary.