Extraction and Structural Analysis of Sweet Potato Pectin and Characterization of Its Gel

Han, Chunmeng; Zhao, Xiangying; Yang, Liping; Yao, Mingjing; Zhang, Jiaxiang; He, Qiangzhi; Liu, Jianjun; Liu, Liping

doi:10.3390/polym16141977

Open AccessArticle

Extraction and Structural Analysis of Sweet Potato Pectin and Characterization of Its Gel

by

Chunmeng Han

^1,2,†,

Xiangying Zhao

^1,2,†,

Liping Yang

^1,2,

Mingjing Yao

^1,2,

Jiaxiang Zhang

^1,2,

Qiangzhi He

^1,2,

Jianjun Liu

^1,2 and

Liping Liu

^1,2,*

¹

Shandong Food Ferment Industry Research & Design Institute, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan 250013, China

²

School of Food Science and Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan 250353, China

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Polymers 2024, 16(14), 1977; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16141977

Submission received: 6 June 2024 / Revised: 7 July 2024 / Accepted: 9 July 2024 / Published: 10 July 2024

(This article belongs to the Section Biobased and Biodegradable Polymers)

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Abstract

Pectin is widely used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. However, data on sweet potato pectin extraction and structural property analyses are lacking. Here, for the high-value utilization of agricultural processing waste, sweet potato residue, a byproduct of sweet potato starch processing, was used as raw material. Ammonium oxalate, trisodium citrate, disodium hydrogen phosphate, hydrochloric acid and citric acid were used as extractants for the pectin constituents, among which ammonium oxalate had a high extraction rate of sweet potato pectin, low ash content and high molecular weight. Structural and gelation analyses were conducted on ammonium oxalate-extracted purified sweet potato pectin (AMOP). Analyses showed that AMOP is a rhamnogalacturonan-I-type pectin, with a molecular weight of 192.5 kg/mol. Chemical titration and infrared spectroscopy analysis confirmed that AMOP is a low-ester pectin, and scanning electron and atomic force microscopy demonstrated its linear molecular structure. Gelation studies have revealed that Ca²⁺ is the key factor for gel formation, and that sucrose significantly enhanced gel hardness. The highest AMOP gel hardness was observed at pH 4, with a Ca²⁺ concentration of 30 mg/g, pectin concentration of 2%, and sucrose concentration of 40%, reaching 128.87 g. These results provide a foundation for sweet potato pectin production and applications.

Keywords: sweet potato pomace; pectin extraction; structural analysis; gel properties

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MDPI and ACS Style

Han, C.; Zhao, X.; Yang, L.; Yao, M.; Zhang, J.; He, Q.; Liu, J.; Liu, L. Extraction and Structural Analysis of Sweet Potato Pectin and Characterization of Its Gel. Polymers 2024, 16, 1977. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16141977

AMA Style

Han C, Zhao X, Yang L, Yao M, Zhang J, He Q, Liu J, Liu L. Extraction and Structural Analysis of Sweet Potato Pectin and Characterization of Its Gel. Polymers. 2024; 16(14):1977. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16141977

Chicago/Turabian Style

Han, Chunmeng, Xiangying Zhao, Liping Yang, Mingjing Yao, Jiaxiang Zhang, Qiangzhi He, Jianjun Liu, and Liping Liu. 2024. "Extraction and Structural Analysis of Sweet Potato Pectin and Characterization of Its Gel" Polymers 16, no. 14: 1977. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16141977

APA Style

Han, C., Zhao, X., Yang, L., Yao, M., Zhang, J., He, Q., Liu, J., & Liu, L. (2024). Extraction and Structural Analysis of Sweet Potato Pectin and Characterization of Its Gel. Polymers, 16(14), 1977. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym16141977

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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Extraction and Structural Analysis of Sweet Potato Pectin and Characterization of Its Gel

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