The project titled “Gelatin Production from Chicken-Turkey Mechanical Separation Process Wastes and Its Use in Confectionery Products” prepared under the leadership of Assoc. Dr. Abdullah Kurt, Head of Food Engineering Department at Selçuk University, Akşehir Faculty of Engineering and Architecture has been completed. With the project for which a patent application has been made, gelatin was produced from poultry by-products as an alternative to bovine gelatin in order to reduce foreign dependency in the production of gelatin, which is used extensively in the fields of food, health and cosmetics, and to eliminate doubts among consumers.

Selçuk University Akşehir Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Head of Food Engineering Department, Assoc. Dr. Abdullah Kurt said, “We produced gelatin within the scope of our project titled 'Gelatin Production from Chicken-Turkey Mechanical Separation Process Wastes and Its Use in Confectionery Products”, supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, General Directorate of Agricultural Research and Policies (TAGEM). It is an important additive for the food industry, but it is widely used not only in the food industry, but also in the pharmaceutical industry, in capsule making, in health applications and in the cosmetic industry.’

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kurt stated that gelatin is not only produced from cattle skin and bones. He said, “Consumers are skeptical about gelatin and products containing gelatin, such as ice cream, jelly beans, soft candies and marshmallows, because they are produced from different animal sources. We aimed to produce gelatin with domestic resources in order to both reduce foreign dependency and minimize doubts. In this context, we focused on poultry by-products. In addition to turkey, due to the difference in our production method, we also evaluated chicken by-products and produced gelatin from two different raw materials within the scope of our project.”

Assoc. Dr. Abdullah Kurt said, “We used the gelatin we produced together with an industrial enterprise as an alternative in industrial production. We also applied for a patent due to the difference in our raw materials and the difference in the method we use during production. Our project also demonstrated the unity between universities. We also benefited from Yıldız Technical University Food Engineering laboratory. Selçuk University Rectorate also contributed to the further expansion of the outputs of our project and the production of valuable results by providing an additional budget within the scope of Scientific Research Projects (BAP). I thank our Rector Prof. Dr. Metin Aksoy for their support.”