Martinez-Avila C.G., Sousa-Gallagher M.J., Montanez-Saenz J.C., Rodriguez-Herrera R, Contreras J.C., Agular C.N.

2008 September

Valnatura: a Europe-Latin America postgraduate research network in the VALorization of NATURAl resources

Valorization of mandarin peels through enzymatic pectin extraction

Universidade do Minho ( Portugal)

Pacos de Ferreira, Portugal

Published

1

Pectin is a polysaccharide widely distributed in many higher plants and it has many applications in the food, medical and pharmaceutical industry. Pectin can be extracted from agroindustrial by-products through chemical, physical or biotechnological methods. The aim of this study is to develop a process for pectin extraction from mandarin peels using a commercial enzyme from Aspergillus aculeatus. Response surface methodology was used to optimize the enzymatic extraction of pectin from mandarin peels. The selected experimental design was a three factor five level central composite design for enzyme concentration, solid/liquid ratio and extraction time on the pectin yield. Second order model was used to generate three dimensional response surface plots for the independent variables and the pectin yields. Pectin content in mandarin peel extracts expressed as percent of dry weight of polysaccharide varied from 8.7 to 21.3% (w/w). Enzyme concentration showed the highest effect on the pectin yield from the mandarin peels.

J. A. TEIXEIRA

978-972-97810-5-6

21

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