Effect of heat treatment on conformational and structural properties of sugar beet pectin

The effect of heat treatment on conformational and structural properties of sugar beet pectin (SBP) was investigated using Ubbelohde capillary viscometry and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Intrinsic viscosity, [eta], was estimated from the Rao plot for the Fedors-Rao equation, indicating degradation of SBP by heat treatment. The temperature T dependence of [eta] for both SBPs in an aqueous solution was studied from T = 30-60 degrees C. The value of [eta] was found to decrease with increasing temperature for all samples. This result indicated that the hydrodynamic volume of SBP becomes smaller with increasing T, which could be attributed to an increase in hydrophobic interaction and decreased softening of chain stiffness with increasing temperature. Compositional change due to heat treatment was investigated using FT-IR over the region 4000-400 cm(-1), suggesting degradation behavior due to the heat treatment of SBP, which was in agreement with the capillary viscometry results.

Automated summary

This study investigated the effect of heat treatment on sugar beet pectin (SBP) using Ubbelohde capillary viscometry and Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. It was found that heat treatment caused degradation of SBP and a decrease in viscosity with increasing temperature. Additionally, compositional changes due to heat treatment were confirmed by FT-IR analysis, which agreed with the results from capillary viscometry.