Gelatin is a highly purified animal protein of pig, cow, and fish origins and is extensively used in food, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products. However, the acceptability of gelatin products greatly depends on the animal sources of the gelatin. Porcine and bovine gelatins have attractive features but limited acceptance because of religious prohibitions and potential zoonotic threats, whereas fish gelatin is welcomed in all religions and cultures. Thus, source authentication is a must for gelatin products but it is greatly challenging due to the breakdown of both protein and DNA biomarkers in processed gelatins. Therefore, several methods have been proposed for gelatin identification, but a comprehensive and systematic document that includes all of the techniques does not exist. This up-to-date review addresses this research gap and presents, in an accessible format, the major gelatin source authentication techniques, which are primarily nucleic acid and protein based. Instead of presenting these methods in paragraph form which needs much attention in reading, the major methods are schematically depicted, and their comparative features are tabulated. Future technologies are forecasted, and challenges are outlined. Overall, this review paper has the merit to serve as a reference guide for the production and application of gelatin in academia and industry and will act as a platform for the development of improved methods for gelatin authentication.

中文翻译：

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食品，药品和个人护理产品中的明胶争议：验证方法，现状和未来挑战

明胶是猪，牛和鱼来源的高度纯化的动物蛋白，广泛用于食品，药品和个人护理产品中。但是，明胶产品的可接受性在很大程度上取决于明胶的动物来源。猪和牛明胶具有吸引人的特征，但由于宗教禁令和潜在的人畜共患病威胁而被接受的程度有限，而鱼明胶在所有宗教和文化中均受到欢迎。因此，对明胶产品必须进行源认证，但是由于加工明胶中蛋白质和DNA生物标志物的分解，这是极大的挑战。因此，已经提出了几种用于明胶鉴定的方法，但是不存在包括所有技术的全面而系统的文献。这项最新的综述解决了这一研究空白，并以一种易于获取的格式介绍了主要的明胶来源认证技术，这些技术主要基于核酸和蛋白质。这些方法不是以阅读时需要特别注意的段落形式呈现，而是示意性地描绘了主要方法，并列出了它们的比较特征。预测了未来的技术，并概述了挑战。总体而言，该综述文件的优点可作为在学术界和工业界生产和应用明胶的参考指南，并将作为开发改进的明胶认证方法的平台。这些方法不是以阅读时需要特别注意的段落形式呈现，而是示意性地描绘了主要方法，并列出了它们的比较特征。预测了未来的技术，并概述了挑战。总体而言，该综述文件的优点可作为在学术界和工业界生产和应用明胶的参考指南，并将作为开发改进的明胶认证方法的平台。这些方法不是以阅读时需要特别注意的段落形式呈现，而是示意性地描绘了主要方法，并列出了它们的比较特征。预测了未来的技术，并概述了挑战。总体而言，该综述文件的优点可作为在学术界和工业界生产和应用明胶的参考指南，并将作为开发改进的明胶认证方法的平台。