Section 2 Pectin Applications

**65**

**Chapter 3**

**Abstract**

applications.

**1. Introduction**

thickening agent [4–6].

for gut microbiota modulation [9–11].

tissue engineering, drug delivery

Pectin - Extraction, Purification,

Characterization and Applications

*Virginia Rodríguez Robledo and Lucía Isabel Castro Vázquez*

Fruits, vegetables, and other plant-based foods are particularly important as they are source of dietary carbohydrates, and therefore much of the energy in the adult diet. Plant food also contains a wide range of dietary components rich in bioactive phytochemicals and is essential to the human body that may provide desirable health benefits beyond basic nutrition. Pectin is one of the nonstarch polysaccharides (NSPs), which constitutes the major fraction of the plant cell wall in association and/or substituted with other polysaccharides, and they cover a great variety of biological functions and chemical structures. Generally, pectin is isolated from by-products of agro-foods using extraction technologies with the emergence of novel and effective techniques that inclined toward a cleaner process. Pectin is widely used both in food sector (as gelling, thickening, and stabilizer agent) and in pharmaceutical industries (bioactive components) including biomedical application (drug delivery, tissue engineering, and wound healing) as innovative

**Keywords:** new sources, pectin isolations, innovative application, food sector,

Pectins represent a group of structurally heteropolysaccharides, composed mainly by covalently α-1,4-linked D-galacturonic acid (GalA) units, found in primary cell walls and middle lamella of higher plants [1, 2]. Pectin contributes to the firmness and structure of plant tissue, being involved in the intercellular adhesion and mechanical resistance of the cell wall. They also have an important role in the development of plant cells providing turgidity and resistance [3] **Figure 1**. These polysaccharides have been used in the food and beverage industries for many years. The principal applications of pectin are as a gelling agent, stabilizer, emulsifier, and

In the food sector, this traditional usage is being complemented by the emerging utilization of pectin as a fat replacer and health-promoting functional ingredient [4, 7, 8]. Pectin also provides an important source of dietary fiber that has been identified as emerging prebiotic with improved therapeutic properties

Pectin has also been used for medicine and pharmaceutical purposes as a carrier for controlled drugs or bioactive release [12], for example, in drug delivery [13, 14].

## **Chapter 3**
