Isolation and Characterization of Pectin Extracted from Lemon Pomace during Ripening

The research was conducted to find out the various extraction conditions of pectin from lemon pomace under different of solvents (6M HCl, 1N H2SO4, 1N HNO3, 6.2g/100g citric acid, 1N acetic acid, combination with acetic acid and ammonium oxalate and distilled water), temperatures (70, 80, 90 and 1000C), times (30, 60, 90 and 120 min) and maturity stages (premature, mature and over ripen). Preliminary results showed that optimum conditions for extraction of pectin were found at a temperature of 1000C by 60 min on the basis of pectin yield and equivalent weight extracted with distilled water. Pectin extracted with distilled water was characterized in terms of yield, moisture content, ash content, equivalent weight, methoxyl content, degree of esterification and neutral sugar contents. There were significant differences (p< 0.05) in yields, equivalent weights, degree of esterifications and neutral sugars among the lemon pomace pectin extracted from premature, mature and over ripen maturity stages. The degree of esterification and methoxyl contents were varying depending upon the maturity stages. Therefore, the premature lemon pomace can be considered as rich source of pectin in terms of yield, methoxyl content, degree of esterification and anhydrouronic acid content.