Amino acid composition

Gelatin is obtained by a controlled hydrolysis from the fibrous insoluble protein collagen.Being a protein, gelatin is composed of a unique sequence of amino acids. Characteristic features of gelatin are the high content of the amino acids glycine, proline and hydroxyproline.

Structurally, gelatin molecules contain repeating sequences of glycine-X-Y triplets, where X and Y are frequently proline and hydroxyproline amino acids. These sequences are responsible for the triple helical structure of gelatin and its ability to form gels.