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Article: Pectin extraction from citrus and sugar beets: low-value pectin's a natural for making high-value products.
- Article from:
- Agricultural Research
- Article date:
- February 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 U.S. Government Printing Office. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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At ARS's Eastern Regional Research Center (ERRC) in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, researchers in the Crop Conversion Science and Engineering Research Unit are at work on pectin, a polysaccharide component in cell walls of fruits and vegetables.
Polysaccharides are polymers made up of many simple carbohydrates (sugars) linked together into long, continuous molecules. Pectin is currently valued for use as a gelling and thickening agent, beverage stabilizer, and fat substitute.
Most commercial pectin is obtained by extraction from citrus peels, but sugar beet pulp is also rich in pectin. About 1.5 million tons of dry beet pulls--an enormous untapped source of a ...