Products & Applications

Our gelatin is highly versatile and, together with our rich technical and formulation expertise, lets you achieve the effects you want while we meet the differing needs of our customers. Simply varying the gel strength or viscosity, the gelatin type or the concentration opens up a wide range of ideal options.

Gelatin has been used in food processing for hundreds of years. Today it is an essential ingredient for creating excellent texture in a wide range of confectionery and other foods. Its unique thermo-reversibility makes it indispensable in many confectionery applications. Its popularity is also due to its gelling, foaming, stabilising, thickening, binding and emulsifying properties. Gelatin is water-soluble and compatible with most other hydrocolloids, including plant gums such as agar, alginate, carrageenan and pectin, as well as sugar, corn syrup, food acids and flavourings.

Our gelatin and collagen offer key advantages across a variety of dairy applications, helping to achieve this goal. The products help prevent syneresis, improve foam and stabilise the pore structure. Adding the right amount of gelatin gives dairy lovers a soft, creamy texture they cannot resist.

In dairy products, edible gelatin mainly serves to prevent whey separation, protect casein and stabilise foam. As living standards rise, the dairy industry grows and the supply of dairy products increases, demand for gelatin rises accordingly.

Its ease of use and wide-ranging functionality open the door to fun and creative desserts. It sets quickly while also adding colour to desserts and enhancing their transparency.

Gelatin prevents the formation of coarse ice crystals, keeps the texture fine and slows down melting.

Meat products with poor water retention have a coarse mouthfeel, slice poorly and give low yields. Adding substances with a strong affinity for water can increase the water-holding capacity of meat. Ingredients commonly added to meat products include starch and soy protein: starch absorbs water at a ratio of about 1:2 and soy protein at about 1:4, whereas edible gelatin can absorb water at dozens of times its own weight. This is because the molecular structure of edible gelatin contains strongly ionic groups that form additional hydrogen bonds with free water. At the same time, edible gelatin reacts with protein to form a strong three-dimensional structure——a gel—that firmly locks in the moisture.

As a macromolecular hydrocolloid, gelatin can act not only as a gelling agent, stabiliser, emulsifier and thickener but also as a clarifying agent. Clarification is the process of adding a flocculating substance to the product to fix and precipitate the suspended particles that cause cloudiness in wine or juice.

Gelatin provides excellent filling conditions for the contents of soft capsules and effectively prevents reactions between the capsule shell and its contents, thereby ensuring bioavailability. The fields in which gelatin soft capsules are currently most widely used include pharmaceuticals, nutritional products and cosmetics.

A microcapsule is a tiny container or package with a polymer wall shell. Microencapsulation granulation technology is a technique for embedding and sealing solids, liquids or gases within a tiny capsule to form a solid particulate product.

Adding functional ingredients (vitamins, minerals, fibre or collagen) can give products health-promoting benefits. Many gummy brands have already moved beyond the traditional confectionery sector. With ZGL, we can support and help you enter this growing market.