Extraction of pectin from apple pomace

As apple-processing units are now in expansion in Brazil, industrial by-products like pomace play an important role in pectin manufacture. The objective of this article was to determine a practical follow-up to the extraction of pectin from apple pomace and to characterize it in a laboratory, on a small scale, aiming at establishing the optimum conditions for acid extraction. The highest yields were obtained when [1] apple pomace was dried and ground to obtain an apple flour to be used as raw material, [2] citric or nitric acids were used and [3] when the citric acid concentration was 6.2 g/100 ml and the time of reaction was 153 minutes. The apple variety in itself was not significant in pectin yield. The degree of esterification (DE = 68.84%) of the product obtained, as well as its physical looks, show the success of pectin extraction.