Characterization of pectin obtained by conventional and innovative methods

Authors: MUHIDINOV, ZAYNIDDIN - Tajikistan Academy Of Sciences; IKROMI, KHURSHED - Agricultural University Of Tajikistan; JONMURODOV, ABDUVALI - Tajikistan Academy Of Sciences; NASRIDDINOV, ABDUBAKR - Tajikistan Academy Of Sciences; BOBOKALONOV, JAMSHED - Tajikistan Academy Of Sciences; Strahan, Gary; Liu, Linshu

Submitted to: International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/14/2021
Publication Date: 3/17/2021
Citation: Muhidinov, Z., Ikromi, K., Jonmurodov, A., Nasriddinov, A., Usmanova, S.R.,Bobokalonov, J., Strahan, G.D., Liu, L.S. 2021. Characterization of pectin obtained by conventional and innovative methods. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules. 183:2227-2237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.05.094.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.05.094

Interpretive Summary: The standard method of commercial pectin production uses a large volume of flammable organic solvent and the electricity consumption is very high. We provide an alternative by combining alcohol precipitation followed by vacuum evaporation which are the last two steps of the traditional procedure for pectin production after extraction. By this method, the electricity consumption is high, and a large volume of flammable organic solvent is used. We provide here an alternative, using a method combining dialysis and ultrafiltration in one step. The viscous pectin extracts in an aqueous flow are pushed through a membrane with selected pore size. Thus, the pectin collected has a pre-determined range of molecular weights and molecular sizes. Other compounds in the pectin extracts are either passed through the membrane along with the pectin or are filtered out, depending on the molecular weight, the nature of the membrane and the molecules; the resulting fractions in either side of the membrane are in a relatively small volume of aqueous solution, easing further isolation and purification. In general, our method is cost effective and environmentally benign.

Technical Abstract: The standard method of commercial pectin production uses vacuum evaporation and alcohol precipitation (VEAP) wherein pectin is precipitated from hydrolysate solution using large quantities of expensive and flammable alcohol, followed by vacuum evaporation. This process has high production costs that have limited the commercial use of refined pectin. The present study demonstrates a new technology using a tangential flow diaultrafiltration (TFDUF) process in a pilot plant scale, which is a low cost, green and ecologically friendly way to produce pectin, and plausibly, other in-situ compounds. A comparison of the two methods in terms of the structure and quality of their products suggest that TFDUF provides improved pectin purity, with higher values of molar mass (Mw) and lower polydispersity (Mw/Mn). An analysis of the 1D and 2D NMR spectra reveals that the diaultrafiltration (DUF) process removes a majority of the free impurities extracted along with the pectin macromolecules, making this method preferable to use. The results of power and chemical consumption analysis demonstrate that the new process is superior over existing methods due to lower energy consumption and higher product quality. It also possesses a flexible technical design that has the potential to allow the production of various semi-products from different raw materials.