CONTINUOUS, COUNTERCURRENT EXTRACTION OF PECTIN FROM SUNFLOWER HEADS

Abstract

Sunflower heads are a promising source of low-methoxyl pectin. Continuous extraction of sunflower head pectinwas conducted in a bench-scale screw-conveyor extractor using 0.75% sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) solution,achieving up to 50% recovery. The pH of SHMP solution and ratio of SHMP solution to washed sunflower heads (L/S ratio)markedly affected pectin recovery. A suitable range of pH of SHMP solution was 3.0 to 3.8. An L/S ratio of at least 32 wasrequired under the conditions used in the study.