Polysaccharides from agro-food industry waste constitute one of the most important renewable resources.  Pectin is a complex heteropolysaccharide naturally present in the cell walls of most land plants, which is characterized as one of the most structurally complex natural plant polysaccharides, consisting of long-chain rich in polygalacturonic acid and side chains of neutral sugars. The heterogeneity of pectins is attributed to their chemical compositions (there are at least 17 different monosaccharides in pectin, which can be interconnected through 20 different linkages) and physical arrangements (extents of cross-linking, distributions of methyl ester or O-acetyl groups, locations/organizations of side chains). Commercial pectin is primarily extracted from citrus peel and apple pomace. The conventional extraction method requires a lot of energy and involves the use of mineral acids. In line with sustainable development goals, non-conventional green methods have been studied for pectin extraction. The most explored methods include microwave, ultrasound, and enzyme-assisted extraction methods. The traditional application of pectin is as a gelling agent, a stabilizer or a thickener in foods and beverages. However, over the past years, new developments open the route to new applications of this uniquely complex heteropolysaccharide, which can be tailored to possess specific functionalities for food, pharmaceutical and biomedical applications, through appropriate extraction and modification technologies/processes. Well beyond its traditional use as food hydrocolloid, pectin is recognized as a good candidate in preparation of 3D printed foods, as edible films or coating, as wall material in micro/nano-encapsulation for the protection and targeted delivery of bioactive/drug, and as a natural-based biopolymer for food packaging applications. Pectin and pectin-derived oligosaccharides are also used in the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industry due to their health-promoting properties including anticancer, immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, intestinal microflora-regulating, hypercholesterolemia-/arteriosclerosis-preventing, anti-diabetic, anti-obesity, and wound healing effects.

Use of pectin recovered from agro-food industry waste in food and health product innovation

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ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.