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Updated: Aug 10, 2026
Extraction of Plant-based Capsules for Microencapsulation Applications
Published on: November 9, 2016
Fine structure, physicochemical and antioxidant properties of LM-pectins from okra pods dried under different
Kang Xu1, Mario M Martinez2, Bin Yang3
1Key Laboratory of Food Processing Technology and Quality Control in Shandong Province, College of Food Science and Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai'an, 271018, China; School of Engineering, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada.
Abstract:
This work investigates the effect of drying okra pods by different techniques [freeze-drying (FD), sun-drying (SD), oven-drying (OD) and microwave-drying (MD)] on the molecular structure, physicochemical and antioxidant properties of the subsequently extracted OP. Remarkably, although the degree of methyl esterification (∼41.1 %) remained similar among samples, the content of galacturonic acid (62.67-68.77 %), average number molecular weight (MnI: 758.8-808.5 kDa, MnII: 20.9-24.2 kDa), and to a greater extent the apparent viscosity of an aqueous solution of pectin molecules, water holding capacity (0.21-10.71 g/g) and emulsifying activity (42.3-72.7 %) and stability (38.6-53.5 %), decreased with the drying temperature in the order of FD-OP > SD-OP > OD-OP > MD-OP. On the other hand, only FD-OP presented a higher proportion of galactan and/or arabinan side chains [(Ara + Gal) / Rha = 12.37%] compared to the rest of the samples, with values ranging from 7.79 to 9.17%. FD-OP and SD-OP resulted in lower DPPH and ABTS radical scavenging activities.
