Project Report on Pectin From Orange Peels [EIRI-0607]

Orange peel is separated out, and processed for making pectin from (Orange peel is very high in pectin), or the peel can be  sold  to  another business  that makes candied peel or marmalade. Here, in this project,  The  pectin is being manufactured  from Orange peels. Pectin is a natural fibre  which is  used as a thickner in many foods and beverages. Cellulose fibril constituting plant cell  wall  requires certain  other materials  for  cementing  them  into   definite structural form of  plant organs. These cementing materials are soluble polysaccharides, e.g., hemicellulose and pectin and polyphenolics  lignin. Pectin is extensively distributed  in  all plant  cells,  being  part  of  cell  wall  and  middle  lamella. Concentration  of  pectin in certain parts of a plant  is  higher compared  to other parts. Thus pectin is present in the peels of citrus  fruits (lime, lemon, orange, grapefruit etc.)  and  apple pomace at such concentration (20-30%, on dry basis), which  makes its  commercial  production economically feasible. Since citrus fruits  and apples are extensively used for extraction of  juice, the waste material of fruit juice manufacturing industry, make a suitable  starting  material for pectin extraction. In a deve-loping country like India, where there is no large and orga-nised fruit  juice  industry,  pectin sources can  be  soybean  hulls, sunflower  bottoms  and  sugar  beet  waste.  Unlike  many  plant hydrocolloids, which are obtained from specially agricultured or horticultured   plant  sources,  the  raw  material  for   pectin manufacture is an exclusive waste byproduct of other  industries. Thus the starting material for pectin manufacturing is  available at a throwaway pirce, yet there is a complete dependence for  its availability on another industry.