Conventional and Emerging Novel Techniques for the Extraction of Pectin and Applications of Pectin

Special Article - Bioprocessing

Austin J Biotechnol Bioeng. 2022; 9(1): 1115.

Conventional and Emerging Novel Techniques for the Extraction of Pectin and Applications of Pectin

Sharma N, Pooja and Yadav SK*

Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (CIAB), Sector- 81 (Knowledge city), Mohali, India

*Corresponding author: Sudesh Kumar Yadav, Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing (CIAB), Sector-81 (Knowledge city), Mohali, 140306, India

Received: February 22, 2022; Accepted: April 01, 2022; Published: April 08, 2022

Abstract

Agricultural crops and its by-product utilization is an emerging area in Food Industry. The waste generated from processing industries is generally disposed off, ultimately hampering the environment. However, this waste is a rich source of many valuable components, pectin being one of them. Pectin, a heteropolysaccharide has numerous nutritional and functional properties making its extraction a matter of utmost importance. Although it is present in cell wall of most of the plants but its amount, structure and chemical composition differs between plants and makes its recovery tedious. In order to commercialize, yield and quality of pectin are important parameters to be considered during extraction. Therefore, selection of a convenient technique is essential. However, conventional extraction method is being widely used; it has some limitations such as laborious handling and certain environmental concerns. Therefore, there is a need to exploit novel pectin extraction techniques. In addition to that, there are many other parameters (increase in cost and skilled labor) to be considered in order to have clear insight of the possibilities to scale up the process. The present review discusses the chemical structure and classification of pectin, its properties and source of recovery with primary focus on innovative pectin extraction techniques.

Keywords: Agricultural crops; Pectin; Heteropolysaccharide; Laborious handling; Ohmic heating

Introduction

Pectin is a natural biopolymer categorized as heteropolysaccharide and is present mostly in the primary cell wall of plants [1]. In some of the plants, it is reported to be present in the middle lamella part of the plant cell wall. Pectin is a combination of various complex polysaccharides and provides mechanical strength to the plant tissue [2]. The main building block of pectin is galacturonic acid and unit is associated with other compounds present in plant cell wall like lignin, cellulose or polyphenols [3]. The pectin content is substantially more in the cell walls of some fruits and vegetables. Pectin helps in ion homeostasis as well as regulates the properties such as ion balance, pH, porosity, and surface change [4]. Also, pectin oligosaccharides help to activate plant defense responses [5]. Pectinase and pectinesterase are the enzymes responsible to hydrolyze the structure of the pectin during ripening process. Pectinase work by cleaving the main pectin chain and its side branches to disrupt the whole structure of the pectin and converting it to a simple soluble polymer [6]. The content, chemical constituents and structure of the pectin depends upon the source, and condition of the plant or plant part.

Chemical Structure of Pectin

Pectin is a multifunctional component of the plant cell wall consisting of linear polysaccharide (composed of a-galacturonic acid monomer) having molecular weight approx. 60,000-130,000 g/mol [7]. The carboxyl groups of uronic acid residues exist either in free form or as a salt form with calcium, sodium or other small counter ions and in some cases as naturally esterified groups, mainly with methanol. The reason of pectin being acidic in nature is the presence of free carboxyl groups. Pectin is both polydisperse and polymolecular. Hence, it is heterogeneous in its chemical structure and molecular weight [8]. Isolation of pectin is very tough as it changes according to storage, processing and source of the plant material [7].

Galacturonic acid sub-units in pectin are attached by a-1,4- glycosidic bonds. The carboxylic groups in galacturonic acid are fully or partly neutralized by sodium, ammonia or potassium ions and partly esterified by methyl groups. Pectin is composed of very complex set of polysaccharides covalently linked to each other. Homogalacturonan (HG) and rhamnogalacturonan I (RG-I) are the most abundant classes. Whereas, other classes include rhamnogalacturonan II (RGII), xylogalacturonan (XGA), and apiogalacturonan (AGA) [9]. As mentioned above, homogalacturonan are the most abundant form that are partially carboxylated at C-6 and acetylated at O-2 or O-3. The ability to interact and industrial applications are partly determined by methyl esterification of homogalacturonan regions. Methyl esterification is equivalent to the degree of methylation (DM) as a percentage, which is an important attribute to indicate the ability of the pectin to form gel. Rhamnogalacturonan-I (RGI) is a type of pectin with a backbone of the continuous units of disaccharide i.e. (1-4)-a-D-galacturonic acid-(1, 2)-a-L-rhamnose. Rhamnogalacturonan II (RG-II) type of pectin has a complex structure comprising of highly branched structure of polysaccharide. RG-II exists as a dimer in the primary walls of plants. While xyloglacturoanan and apiogalacturonan are much less complex regions. The homogalacturonan structure in pectin is substituted with xylose for xylogalacturonan and monosaccharide or disaccharide apiofuranosyl for apiogalacturonan. RG-II plays a crucial role in the structure of plant cell walls as small structure alterations of RG-II lead to the reduction in the dimers formation and can cause severe growth defects [10-12].

Structural Classifications of Pectin

Pectin can be classified according to their degree of esterification, acetylation and amidation as follows:

Degree of esterification (DE) in pectin

The Degree of esterification (DE) is defined as the percentage of esterified carboxyl groups present in the structure of pectin. Different properties like gelling, emulsifying and texturizing are dependent upon DE. It is an important parameter to determine further applications of pectin. With the increase in DE, the water solubility decreases due to the hydrophobic nature of esters. Therefore, increase in DE improves the gelation rate and results in the rapid gelation of pectin [8].

Pectin can be divided into two types depending upon their degree of esterification (DE) i.e., low methoxyl pectin (DE<50) or high methoxyl pectin (DE>50) [13]. These two types of pectin form the gels by different mechanisms. High methoxyl pectin (HMP) has DE higher than 50%. Such pectins are used mostly in the food industry because of their gelling and thickening properties. HMP is very sensitive to acidity and for gelation it requires large amount of sugar. Due to the presence of hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interactions between pectin chains, they form gel at low pH within a narrow range of around 3.0 and high concentration of soluble solids. Gelation occurs when HG portions are cross-linked to form three dimensional crystalline networks in which water and other solutes are trapped. These gels are thermally reversible and are soluble in hot water. It is reported that formation of HMP gel occurs by different mechanisms, such as self-aggregation, esterification and entanglement under alkaline pH. Due to electronic attraction, dissociated carboxyl groups in HMP are bound to Na+ or K+, and thereby, enable HMP molecules to move close to each other and improve the gel network formation [8,14]. Low methoxyl pectin (LMP) has DE less than 50%. Generally, it is formed by the de-esterification of HMP and is not sensitive to pH. For gel formation, they require no sugar content and limited quantities of divalent cations such as Ca2+ [15]. Mechanism of gelation in LMP occurs by the formation of calcium bonds between two carboxyl groups. It has been observed that high concentration of calcium and pH values close to the isoelectric point (pH=3.50) improves the gel strength by building calcium bridges at dissociated carboxyl groups. LMP is commonly used in food industry to form low-sugar jams as it requires no sugar content for gelation [8].

Degree of acetylation in pectin

The degree of acetylation (DAC) can be defined as the total percentage of acetyl groups attached to the hydroxyl groups of galacturonosyl residues by ester bonds. It has been shown widely that acetylation of pectin is a stabilizing and emulsifying effects which concomitantly decreases the gel forming ability of the pectin [16- 18]. Studies have shown that pectins with a degree of acetylation up to 25% possess the reduced gelling properties [19]. Specifically, the multiple acetyl groups in sugar beet pectin provide it a surfactant group (COOCH3) with ammonia [20,21].

Degree of amidation in pectin

The percentage of amide groups present in the pectin is termed as the degree of amidation. The amidated pectin are thermo-reversible and resistant to variations of calcium preventing it from precipitation. Amidation prevents the syneresis and increases the solubility of pectin in water [21].

Various Sources of Pectin

In higher plants, one third of the dry weight of the cell wall is composed of pectin. The gelation property of pectin depends upon the molecular size and degree of esterification (DE). Pectin extracted from distinct sources have unique gelling properties owing to difference in these above- mentioned parameters. So, a fruit cannot be qualified as a source of commercial pectin solely on the basis of high pectin content [22]. At present, main source of commercial pectin is apple pomace and citrus peels. Both are by-products of cider (or juice) production. Apple pomace encompasses 10-15% of pectin, whereas citrus peels contain 20-30% pectin on a dry matter basis [23]. Citrus and apple pectin are basically equivalent from an application point of view. Citrus pectin appears light tan in color whereas apple pectin is often dark in color. Alternate sources such as eggplant peel, chamomile waste, cocoa pod husk, mango peel, banana peel or tomato husk have been considered to acquire pectin-based polymers of better quality. Also, tropical fruits have been recommended as compelling pectin sources. Due to the innumerable applications of pectin in various industries, the extraction of pectin from several biomasses and their waste has been widely studied. Table 1 summarizes various reported studies based on the extraction of pectin from different sources.