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Elucidating the structural and functional properties of pectin from cloudy pomelo juice and its role in cloud
1Shanghai Food Safety and Engineering Technology Research Center, Bor S. Luh Food Safety Research Center, Key Lab of Urban Agriculture Ministry of Agriculture, School of Agriculture & Biology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Abstract:
Pectin is critical for maintaining juice cloud stability, yet its physicochemical properties remain poorly understood. This work investigated the physicochemical, structural, and functional properties of pectin isolated from cloudy pomelo juice. The pectin was identified as low-methoxy pectin with a molecular weight of 104.156 kDa. Characterization via Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM) revealed distinct physicochemical and structural features of pectin. Rheological analysis demonstrated that pectin exhibited pseudoplastic behavior and formed a weak, gel-like network. Additionally, the pectin exhibited a water-holding capacity of 4.11 ± 0.34 g/g and an oil-holding capacity of 2.87 ± 0.08 g/g. Its emulsifying capacity and emulsifying stability increased with the concentration and were higher than those of commercial citrus pectin. These findings provide insight for improving cloud stability in cloudy pomelo juice and expanding pectin's functional applications.
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