PHARMACOGNOSY AND PHYTOCHEMISTRY – I PRACTICAL

ANALYSIS OF GELATIN BY CHEMICAL TEST 



EXPERIMENT NO.6

Aim: Analysis of Gelatin by chemical tests.

Reference: 1. Mayur R. Bhurat, Md. Rageeb Md. Usman, Sanjay A. Nagdev, Practical Pharmacognosy & Phytochemistry – I, Published by S. Vikas And Company (Medical Publisher) page. No. 23 – 24.

2. Dr. K.R Khandelwal, Textbook of Practical Pharmacognosy, Pubished by Nirali Prakashan, Sixth Edition, page. No. 162.

Requirements:

Apparatus: Test tubes, Beaker, Holder, Burner, Water bath, Tripod stand, Copper gauze etc.

Chemicals: NaOH, CuSO, Million’s reagent, Tannic acid, Tri-nitrophenol, Picric acid etc.

Theory:

Biological Source: Gelatin is a mixture of peptides and proteins produced by partial hydrolysis of collagen extracted from the skin, bones, and connective tissues of animals such as domesticated cattle, chicken, pigs, and fish.

OR

Gelatin is a product obtained by the partial hydrolysis of collagen, derived from the skin, white connective tissue, tendons, ligament and bones of ox (Bostourus Linn.), sheep (Ovis aries Linn), etc.

Family: Bovidae.

Description:

Color: Colorless to faint yellow.

Odor: Characteristics.  

Taste: Salty, meat like.

Shape: Available as flakes, translucent sheets, or coarse or fine powder.

Solubility: It is insoluble in cold but soluble in hot water.

Chemical Constituents: Gelatin mainly consists of protein glutin, which on hydrolysis gives a mixture of amino acids like glycine, alanine, leucine, aspartic acid, arginine, lysine, isoleucine, valine, tyrosine, cystine, cysteine, glutamic acid, argenine, etc. Adhesive property of gelatin is due to the presence of glutin.

Uses: In capsule preparation, As culture medium in Bacteriology, In making suppositories, Source of protein in nutritional experiments, As a substitute for blood plasma, used as suspending agent, coating agent, and binding agent, also widely used in food products and photographic emulsions and microencapsulation of drugs.

Chemical Test of Gelatin:


SR.NO

CHEMICAL TEST

OBSERVATION

INFERENCE

A)

 

 

Preliminary Test.

 

1. Colour

 

 

 

 White

 

White to slight yellow and sometime grayish in color

 

 

 Acacia, Tragacanth, Agar, Starch.

 

Gelatin

 

2. Odour

 

 

Odorless

 

Acacia, Tragacanth, Agar, Starch, Gelatin

 

3. Taste

 

Mucilaginous

 

 

Agar, Acacia, Tragacanth, Starch, Gelatin

B)

Solubility in Alcohol

Soluble

Balsams, Aloes

 

Insolube

Acacia, tragacanth, agar, gelatin

D)

Insoluble in Alcohol.

1.  Mount in alcohol & irrigate with water

 

 

Particles swell and ultimately dissolve or become diffused

 

 

Tragacanth, agar, gelatin.

 

E)

Confirmatory Test:

1. Biuret test: Take 3 ml test solution , add 4% NaOH and few drop of 1% CuSO

Violet or pink color observed

Protein is present

 

2. When sample is heated with soda lime in dry test tube

Evolution of ammonia

Gelatin is present

3. Sample treated with tannic acid solution.

buff white precipitation observed

Gelatin is present

4. Sample aqueous solution treated with tri-nitrophenol

yellow precipitation

Gelatin is present

 

5. Sample solution treated with picric acid

yellow precipitation

Gelatin is present























Result: The given Sample Crude drug was identified by performing the chemical test and the sample was found to be Gelatin.