Characterization and extraction of pectin with enzymatic and organic acid methods from pomegranate peels

In this study, pectin was extracted from pomegranate peel by enzymatic extraction method and the physical, chemical and structural properties of the extracted pectin was compared to pectin extracted with conventional citric acid extraction method. The cellulase (Aspergillus Niger) enzyme was used for the enzymatic pectin extraction. Both methods (enzymatic and conventional citric acid extraction) were optimized by using response surface methodology. The optimum conditions for the enzymatic extraction were determined as 0.075 U/mL of enzyme concentration, 9.99 g pomegranate/100 mL of substrate concentration and 2.58 h of extraction time. The optimum conditions for pectin extraction with citric acid were determined as 8 mL/g of solvent/solid ratio, pH 1 and 3 h of extraction time. The yields for both pectins were determined as 7.19% and 5.35% respectively. The structures of both pectins were similar to each other based on the FTIR analysis. Pectins obtained by the both methods were found to be high (DE> 50) methoxylated pectin. The yield and esterification degree of the enzymatically extracted pectin were found to be higher than those of citric acid extracted pectin. The results of this study have shown that so far the pomegranate peel, which has come to the forefront with its bioactive compounds, could be to be used in the production of pectin.