Gelatin and Bone Glue

Gelatin and bone glue are two kinds of animal glues. Animal glue plays a very important role in the national economy. It is widely used in food, photographic materials, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and other more than 30 industries. Animal glue is derived from mammals’ bone, skin, tendon and other connective tissue. According to the raw materials and processing methods, it can be divided into bone glue, skin glue and its refined gelatin and etc. Industrial animal glue is blocky, granular or powdery. Gelatin or gelatine is a translucent, colorless, flavorless food ingredient. Bone glue is reddish-brown and odorous; skin glue is darker in color and brownish in color, and odorous.

There is no essential difference between gelatin and bone glue. Bone gelatin is a kind of gelatin. It belongs to gelatin, like skin gelatin. 

Gelatin

Gelatin is a biological macromolecule. When the dry gelatin is placed in the right amount of water, the first thing we can see is their outer layer slowly swells up. As the time goes by, the phenomenon of expansion gradually to the inner layer. This phenomenon is called swelling or expansion. We can get gelatin solution by heating the expanded gelatin to above 35 ℃ with the water . In short, the commodity glue needs to be soaked and swelled in cold water for 60 minutes, and then melted in a water bath below 80 ℃. (Excessive temperature will destroy viscosity)

The use of gelatin

1.Edible gelatin

Edible gelatin is rich in 18 kinds of amino acids and 90% collagen.It has excellent colloidal protection, surface activity, viscosity, film-forming, suspending, buffering, wetting, stability and water solubility. Edible gelatin is used in food industry, such as meat jelly, canned food, candy, sausage, ice cream, etc.

2.Gelatin for capsules

Gelatin for capsules is an advanced fat-free, high-protein, easy-to-absorb high-quality gelatin made from animal bones and processed through complex physical and chemical processes. Its characteristics make it widely used in the preparation of hard capsules, soft capsules, plasma substitutes and coatings.

3. Photographic gelatin

Photographic gelatin is a high-end product in gelatin, and it is one of the three important materials in the production of photosensitive materials. It is widely used in the production of various films, medical X-ray films, printing films, photo papers, etc.

4.Industrial gelatin

Industrial gelatin is mainly used as industrial adhesives, emulsifiers and emulsion stabilizers, flocculants in beneficiation, sizing agents in the paper and textile industries, as well as platemaking and ink rollers in the printing industry.

Bone glue

Bone glue is one of the most widely used animal-type bonding materials. Its characteristics are good adhesion performance, high strength, less moisture, fast drying, good adhesion stereotypes, low price, easy to use, especially suitable for adhesion and paste hardcover book cover, can get good results.

The main ingredient of animal glue is protein. Its low purity is called bone glue. Bone glue is a brittle solidified body. Collagen is water-insoluble protein. After heat treatment, collagen becomes another form of protein called gelatine. It is soluble in hot water and has cohesive properties. Bone glue film is strong and elastic after it is formed: but bone glue is not resistant to water. It will swell the glue layer and lose the bonding strength when it is in contact with water.

The use of bone glue

Bone glue is widely used in materials such as photocopying plates, adhesives, rainproof pulp, matchmaking, wood gluing, and the sizing of light industrial products such as silk, cotton yarn, cotton cloth, straw hats, and coated paper, waxed paper and other papermaking industries.