Novel source of pectin from young sugar palm by microwave assisted extraction.

Abstract: In this work, pectin extraction was performed using ripened sugar palm meat and young sugar palm meat as raw materials. The effect of extraction temperature and pH on the yield of pectin was investigated. It was found that the degree of esterification and galacturonic acid content decreased at high pH condition. The ripened sugar palm could give pectin as high as 20% yield at extraction condition of pH 2, 80°C, while the young sugar palm gave only 8.1% yield at pH 3. It was found that the adjustment of pH before and after extraction largely affected the yield of extraction. On the other hand, the extraction of young sugar palm meat at microwave power 800W at pH 2 with 3minutes of duration yielded as high as 23.5% of pectin. The results suggested that sugar palm meat had high potential as a new pectin source. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]