Iranian Firm Produces Gelatin, Pectin from Seafood, Citrus Waste

“Gelatin production from the waste of marine products in various blooms is used in all food, pharmaceutical and military industries, and this gelatin powder was produced as a pilot project in the laboratory of Islamic Azad University’s Ayatollah Amoli branch,” Peyman Aryayee, an associate professor and faculty member of the Islamic Azad University’s Ayatollah Amoli branch and the director of the food industry department and head of the incubator center of the University, told ANA.

“We have also succeeded in producing pectin from citrus waste which is produced from the plant gelatin structures found in fruits and vegetables,” he added.

“We launched an industrial unit for the production of gelatin from fish skin for the first time in the country, although this gelatin is in the pilot phase and has successfully passed the laboratory phase,” Aryayee said.

In a relevant development in late 2022, an Iranian knowledge-based company had also managed to produce high-quality gelatin from poultry farms waste.

“Gelatin is a multi-purpose substance that is used in food, medicine, cosmetics and other industries as a gelling agent, stabilizer, thickener, emulsifier and film former as a capsule. It is a thermally reversible hydrocolloid, melting and gelation temperature of which  is below the temperature of the human body,” Mojgan Asiayee, the managing director of Pishgaman-e Khalq-e Ideh Bartar Company, which operates with the support of Islamic Azad University, Semnan Branch, said in an interview with ANA.

“It is mostly produced from mammals’ body parts, including pig skin, cow skin, and bones. Some alternative sources such as fish and bird waste have recently attracted the attention of researchers and the industry as well," she said while explaining about their product which is called ‘food and drug hydrocolloid'.

“Gelatins made from alternative sources (such as poultry waste) have been welcomed due to religious, cultural and health concerns shared by Jews, Muslims and Hindus. Moreover, this type of gelatin provides many technological advantages over mammalian gelatins,” Asiaei added.

The Pishgaman managing director further pointed out that poultry farms or slaughterhouses farms waste has been comprehensively studied as a source for gelatin production, adding that they produce three types of gelatin: gelatin used in the food industry, gelatin used in the pharmaceutical industry, and gelatin used to produce gelatin nanoparticles.

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