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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #164522
Title: PECTIN BASED NETWORKS FOR NON-FOOD APPLICATIONS

Author
item Liu, Linshu
item Fishman, Marshall
item Hicks, Kevin

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/20/2004
Publication Date: 7/5/2004
Citation: Liu, L.S., Fishman, M.L., Hicks, K.B. 2004. Pectin based networks for non-food applications. Meeting Abstract.228th American Chemical Society National Meeting, Philadelphia, PA. August, 22-26, AGFD 20.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: We have found several non-food applications for pectin, a by-product of citrus fruit and sugar beet processing. Pectin based drug delivery systems, in the form of double-wall microspheres or multi-shell tablets, are projected to protect incorporated drugs from enzymatic degradation in the upper GI tract and enhance drug uptake in the colon site. Thus pectin delivery systems appear to be promising vehicles for drug administration. Furthermore, pectin can be constructed as scaffold-like networks for the use in regenerative medicine, especially for skeletal tissue repair. Moreover, in exploring the potential of pectin in engineering material applications, composite hydrogels of pectin with polyacrylates have demonstrated improved mechanical properties. Thermoplastics from pectin and epoxy-nanoclay composites show an increasing resistance to both moisture and flame. In this presentation, the application of pectin in those three areas is discussed individually. The structure-property relations of pectin networks are evaluated in the context of each specific application.