Abstract

S. P. Babar*

ABSTRACT

Pectin is an important natural polysaccharide widely used in food, pharmaceutical,cosmetic, packaging and biomedical applications. Fruit-processing industriesgenerate large quantities of peel waste, particularly from orange, lemon andpomegranate, which can serve as inexpensive and renewable sources of pectin.Conventional pectin extraction generally involves treatment with mineral acids atelevated temperature, followed by filtration, concentration and alcoholprecipitation. Although effective, conventional extraction may require considerablechemical and energy inputs and can generate acidic wastewater and corrosionrelatedproblems. Consequently, recent research has focused on greener extractionapproaches including organic acids, ultrasound-assisted extraction, microwaveassistedextraction, enzyme-assisted extraction, pulsed electric field and otherintensified technologies. An emerging approach of particular interest isheterogeneous extraction using solid materials such as organic clay. The author’sprevious studies demonstrated pectin extraction from orange peel using organic clayand from lemon peel using white organic clay, providing examples of clay-assistedgreen extraction. This review compares conventional and emerging methods forpectin extraction from orange, lemon and pomegranate peels, with particularemphasis on heterogeneous organic-clay-assisted extraction. The influence ofextraction conditions on pectin yield and quality, characterization methods,applications and future opportunities for catalyst/material recovery are alsodiscussed. The integration of heterogeneous materials with green extractiontechnologies may provide a promising route for sustainable production of valueaddedpectin from fruit-processing residues.