Simultaneous Extraction and De-esterification of Pectin from

Mango (Mangifera indica L. Anacardiaceae var. Philippines) Peel

Powder

Gladie John S. Alcuirez, Jayhiel S. Malila, John Wilbert A. Orilla,

Camila Flor Y. Lobarbio*

Department of Chemical Engineering, University of San Carlos, Talamban, CebuCity 6000, Philippines
*Corresponding author: Telefax +63 32 344 6783, Email: cfjyagonia@gmail.com

Abstract

Low-methoxyl (LM) pectin has gained commercial importance because of the increasing demand for low-calorie or

sugar-free pectin-based food products. A proposed method simultaneous extraction and de-esterification (SED)

was investigated for its feasibility to obtain LM-pectin from mango peel powder (MPP). Effects of time and the

initial pH of the MPP-aqueous HCl mixture on the recovery, degree of esterification (DE), galacturonic acid (Gal-A)

content and the average molecular weight (MWave) of the mango pectin were determined. SED was done at varying

periods of time (2, 4, 12, 24 and 48 hours) using aqueous HCl solution at different initial pH (2.0, 3.0 and 4.0) of the

MPP-acid mixture and at a constant temperature of 50C. Results have shown that pectin recovery was about 35%

for all pH conditions after 48-hours of SED. LM-pectin was obtained after 24 hours at an initial pH of 2.0 (47.8%

DE) and after 48 hours for initial mixture pH of 2.0 and 3.0 with DEs at 42.5% and 47.3%, respectively. For all pH

conditions, the Gal-A content approached a value of 450 mg Gal-A/g dried crude pectin and the MW ave decreased

significantly from about 20,000 g/mol during the first two hours of SED to as low as ~2000 g/mol after 48 hours. In

general, it was found that increasing SED time decreases DE and MW ave and increases pectin recovery and Gal-A

content. It was also found that lowering the initial pH of the MPP-aqueous HCl mixture decreases DE but causes no

significant effect to pectin recovery, Gal-A content and MWave.