Extraction and Characterization of Pectin from Lemon Waste for Commercial Applications

Abstract

The objective of this paper was preliminary to extract and characterization of purified pectinfrom lemon wastes. Dry lemon waste was extracted applying citric acid solvent or water at variousconcentrations under a similar condition (85 ºC for 4 h). It was found that the highest yield of pectin(20.8% dry basis) was achieved using hot water extraction with an esterification degree of 47.8%. Itcontained 63.2 ± 0.74% galacturonic acid, followed by 17.4 ± 0.76% total sugar. The monosaccharidesfound in pectin were arabinose (2.7 ± 0.20%), galactose (2.3 ± 0.01%), glucose (1.4 ± 0.09%), mannose(0.4 ± 0.01%), fructose (0.4 ± 0.05%), and xylose (0.1 ± 0.01%). The found pectin had a high atomicweight of 2060 kDa with a wide polydispersity index of 4.41, decided by high-Performance Size ExclusionChromatography (HPSEC). The extricated lemon waste pectin was grouped into low methoxyl pectin,depends on the methoxyl content and degree of esterification affirmed by Fourier transform infraredspectroscopy (FT-IR) and rheological properties. In conclusion, the discoveries of the study show thatlemon waste can be investigated as a promising elective for the commercial manufacturing of pectin.