Abstract
Pectin is a heterogeneous polysaccharide found in the cell wall, middle lamellae of many fruits and vegetables, and is widely used as gelling agent, emulsifier and stabilizer in food industry. In keeping the importance of pectin in the food industry, ultrasound-assisted extraction of pectin from sweet lime peel was investigated. The individual and interactive effect of solid-solvent ratio, ultrasound power intensity and sonication time on the pectin yield, equivalent weight and methoxyl content were studied and analyzed using multiple regression analysis. The maximum pectin yield (36.4 g/100 g), equivalent weight (740.3 mg) and methoxyl content (7.1%) was obtained under optimal condition (solid-solvent ratio of 1:24.3 g/ml, ultrasound power intensity of 80 W/cm2 and sonication time of 18.4 min). Significant (p < 0.05) effect of process parameters was found in all responses of pectin extracted from sweet lime peel. It was also revealed from the present study that ultrasound-assisted extraction of pectin from sweet lime peel is an efficient approach toward waste valorization and extraction of pectin with high yield and good quality attributes.
Highlights
Waste utilization is one of the major concerns in the food processing industry and it has a great potential to provide economic, social and environmental benefits to a country [5]
The results indicated that the pectin yield was in the range 25.2–38.8 g/100 g, as experiment no. 17 and 8 had the lowest and highest yield, respectively
The maximum pectin yield might be due to the maximum level of ultrasound power intensity and the low pH extracting solvent used in the extraction process
Summary
Waste utilization is one of the major concerns in the food processing industry and it has a great potential to provide economic, social and environmental benefits to a country [5]. Citrus fruits are highly consumed as fresh produce and juice worldwide, and most commonly its peel is discarded as waste [19]. Due to both economic and environmental factors, the disposal of citrus peel waste has considerable constraints. The conversion of citrus peel waste into valuable products provides both economic and environmental benefits. Citrus limetta is a species of citrus, commonly known as mosambi, sweet lime, sweet lemon and sweet limetta It belongs to the family of ‘‘Rutaceau’’ and is the third largest fruits produced in India. It is a rich source of various nutrients like vitamin C and minerals that make
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