Efecto de la variación de esterificación de la pectina en la gelificación de mermeladas

Abstract

Agroindustrial waste becomes increasingly larger as the population grows, raising concerns about environmental impact. New strategies are being sought to reuse valuable waste in the food industry. The research focuses on extracting pectin from four varieties of lemon (Citrus limon var. Lisbon, Citrus latifolia, Citrus medica and Citrus reticulata) due to the high environmental impact of lemon production, where currently only the pulp is used to manufacture pulps and concentrates. The extraction was carried out by conventional acid hydrolysis and microwaves. The extracted pectin was subjected to analysis by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Titration to determine its esterification percentage. For the effect of the variation of pectin esterification on the gelation of jams, a texture analysis was carried out where hardness, adhesiveness and cohesiveness were evaluated. The extraction method with the highest yields was by conventional acid hydrolysis with 14.9; 13.4; 3.98 and 0.51 percent, for each variety of lemon. The FT-IR analyzes obtained similarities in the bands indicated by methyl ester groups, covering ranges from 1737.86 - 1741.72 wave number, likewise the peaks detected at 1020.34 - 1024.20 wave number, show linkage to the C-O-C symmetric group. The pectin extracted from Citrus latifolia presented a higher percentage of esterification of 99.8 percent, suggesting that more esterified pectins have a better gelling effect in jams. These results highlight that lemon residues are a valuable source of pectin, useful as a food additive.