LWT - Food Science and Technology 43 (2010) 1026–1031

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LWT - Food Science and Technology

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Effect of extraction conditions on the quality characteristics of pectin from passion

fruit peel (Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa L.)
S.G. Kulkarni, P. Vijayanand*
Fruit and Vegetable Technology, Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore 570020, India

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa L.) yellow variety is composed of 50–55 g peel per 100 g of fresh
Received 10 January 2008 fruit which is discarded as waste during processing. Utilization of passion fruit peel for pectin extraction
Received in revised form was studied. Passion fruit peel obtained after juice extraction was blanched in boiling water for 5 min,
13 November 2009
dehydrated in a cross flow hot air drier at 60  1  C to a moisture content of 4 g/100 g of dried peel. The
Accepted 17 November 2009
dehydrated passion fruit peel was used for extraction experiments of pectin. The effect of pH, peel to
extractant ratio, and number of extractions, extraction time and temperature on the yield and quality
Keywords:
characteristics of pectin were investigated. The optimized conditions for extraction of pectin from
Passion fruit
Pectin passion fruit peel yielded 14.8 g/100 g of dried peel. Pectin extracted from the dried peels had a methoxyl
Pectin extraction content of 9.6 g/100 g, galacturonic acid content of 88.2 g/100 g and jelly grade of 200. Extraction of
Peel to extractant ratio pectin from dried peels of passion fruit may be considered for effective utilization of passion fruit pro-
Pectin precipitation cessing waste.
Processing waste Ó 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Pectin quality

1. Introduction
India produces a wide variety of fruits and vegetables in tropical,
subtropical, temperate and arid regions. The production of fruits in
India has been steadily increasing every year and is now estimated
at 49.8 million tonnes. Processing of fruits into various products by
food industries generate significant quantity of biodegradable
material. The waste material from the fruits is in the form of peels,
core, seed and trimmings of over ripe and defective materials. At
present the fruit processing industries dispose the waste generated
without any treatment in the near by low lying areas resulting in
pollution of the environment. Most of the commercial pectin is
extracted from citrus peels and apple pomace in which pectin
content ranges from 20 to 40 g/100 g on dry weight basis. Wastes
generated from citrus (Cerezal, Larrauri, & Pinera, 1995; Cho, Lee, &
Kim, 2003; Contreras-Esquivel, Hours, Voget, & Mignone, 1999) and
apple (Harsimart & Dhwan, 2001; Kong, Liu, & Chen, 2000; Lee, Yuk,
Hwang, Choi, & Cho, 1999) processing industries are reported to be
rich source of pectin. Passion fruit (Passiflora edulis f. flavicarpa L.)
which belongs to the family passifloraceae is an exotic fruit with
a characteristic flavour. It is a commercially important fruit
successfully grown in most of the tropical and subtropical regions
of the world notably in America, Australia, New Zealand, India and
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ91 821 2515653; fax: þ91 821 2517233.
E-mail address: pasupuletiv@yahoo.com (P. Vijayanand).
South Africa. Passion fruit is also widely cultivated in north eastern
region of India. Physico-chemical properties of yellow passion fruit
with different harvest times with respect to fruit size, peel, peel
colour, yield, pH, total soluble solids, total acidity, ascorbic acid
were reported by Marchi, Monteiro, Benato, and Silva (2000).
Passion fruit juice and juice concentrate are popular processed fruit
products in the world market. Passion fruit is also processed into
juice and blended fruit drinks with other tropical fruit pulps
(Borges, Reis, Jorge, Pinto, & Oliveiera, 2002; Vercelino-Alves, Sar-
antopoulos, Segantini-Saron, & Bordin, 2001). In India, passion
fruits are processed into juice, ready to serve beverages, squash and
syrups in the states of Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland. The waste
generated during processing of passion fruit mainly consists of peel
and seed. Passion fruit peel was reported to contain significant
amount of pectin (Corona et al., 1996; Prasad, 1980). Dietary fiber
from yellow passion fruit (Passiflora edulis) peel was reported to
prepare as alcohol insoluble material which may be suitable to
protect against diverticular diseases (Yapo & Koffi, 2008). Passion
fruit peel has also been reported to be used for the preparation of
preserve (Freiman-de-Oliveira, Figueiredo-Nascimento, Borges,
Nascimento-Ribeiro, & Ruback, 2002). However, the conversion of
passion fruit peel into a valuable by product such as pectin offers
great scope for utilization. Therefore, the main objectives of the
present investigation are to study the effect of extraction conditions
on the composition and physico-chemical characteristics of pectin
from passion fruit peel.

0023-6438/$ – see front matter Ó 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

doi:10.1016/j.lwt.2009.11.006
 S.G. Kulkarni, P. Vijayanand / LWT - Food Science and Technology 43 (2010) 1026–1031 1027

2. Materials and methods 2.4. Peel to extractant ratio

2.1. Raw materials The dried peel to extractant ratios were maintained at 1:10, 1:15,
1:20, 1:30 and 1:40 (w/v), during extraction.
Passion fruits were purchased from local fruit market, sorted,
washed and cut into halves, pulp and seeds were scooped out and 2.5. Extraction time
passed through a pulper extractor fitted with a stainless steel sieve
having a pore diameter of 0.7931 mm to extract juice and separate Extraction time of pectin was varied for 30, 45, 60 and 90 min to
the seeds. The peels obtained after juice extraction were washed determine the time of extraction required for maximum yield of
thoroughly in tap water to remove the adhering pulp and soluble pectin from the dried peels.
sugars.
2.6. Extraction temperature

2.2. Dehydration of passion fruit peel Peel and extractants were weighed and taken in a 1 L Borosil
glass beaker. The beakers were kept in a thermostatically controlled
Passion fruit peels were passed through a fruit mill to crush the stainless steel water bath at the required temperature. The
material into pieces of 3–5 mm, washed in tap water and blanched temperature of the water bath during extraction were maintained
for 5 min in boiling water. Blanched material was loaded on at 70, 80, 90 and 98.7  C and heating was done in open conditions.
stainless steel trays with a tray load of 9.375 kg m2 and dehy-
drated in a cross flow hot air drier at 60  1  C to a final moisture 2.7. Extraction of pectin
content of 4–4.5 g/100 g . Subsequently, the dehydrated peels were
packed in low density polyethylene bags having thickness of 75 mm, The pectin was extracted from coarsely ground, dehydrated
sealed in tin containers and stored at 10  C. These dried peels were peels of passion fruits. The peels were heated in diluted hydro-
used for pectin extraction studies. The flow chart for the prepara- chloric acid solution for a specific time, filtered through a nylon
tion of dried passion fruit peels is shown in Fig. 1. cloth (0.25 mm pore diameter) and pressed to recover the extract.
Concentrated hydrochloric acid (Analytical Reagent) was The extract was further filtered through whatman No. 3 filter paper
procured from Qualigens fine chemicals, India, and was used for the using buchner funnel. The pectin was precipitated by adding
extraction of pectin. absolute ethanol (98% purity) in the ratio of 1:2 (1 part of pectin
extract and 2 parts of ethanol) and keeping at room temperature for
2 h. The precipitated pectin was filtered and the pectin residue was
2.3. Preparation of extractant separately washed with aqueous ethanol of 75% (v/v) and 85% (v/v)
and finally with absolute ethanol to remove the soluble impurities.
One part of unbuffered concentrated hydrochloric acid (HCl) The pectin was finally washed with absolute alcohol and dried at
was mixed with one part of distilled water by weight and used as 50  1  C in a vacuum oven under vacuum of 2400 Hg to constant
a stock solution, for preparing extractants of different pH. The pH of weight. The yield of pectin was calculated as follows:
the extractant was measured using a digital pH meter, Model No.
CD 4 PX 175 E/C, CD instruments, India. The different extractants WeightðgÞ of dried pectin  100
Pectin ðg=100gÞ ¼
with pH of 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5 and 3.0 were prepared by diluting the WeightðgÞof dried peel taken for extraction
stock solution of hydrochloric acid solution. These extractants were
used for the extraction of pectin from the dried passion fruit peel. The pectin was milled, sieved (0.25 mm) and packed in metal-
lized polyester pouches. The packs were kept in air tight tin
containers and stored at 10  C for analysis.
Passion fruit peels
(10.5kg) 2.8. Composition
↓
Moisture content of dried peels was determined by drying
Washing thoroughly in water
known weight of sample in a vacuum oven for 6 and 7 h at 60  C to
↓ a constant weight. The moisture content of the samples was
Blanching of peels for 5 minutes calculated from weight loss and expressed as percent (AOAC, 2000).
↓ Total soluble solids of pectin extract were determined by hand
Crushing in a fruit mill refractometer (Erma, Japan), pH of the pectin extract was measured
↓ at room temperature using digital pH meter. Total sugars, titratable
Loaded to stainless steel trays acidity, total carotenoids, starch, ascorbic acid were estimated by
(6.56 Kg/m2) methods as per AOAC (2000). Analysis was carried out in three
↓ replicates and the results were expressed as the mean  standard
deviation (Steel & Torrie, 1980). Calcium pectate content in the
Drying in a cross flow hot air drier at 60 ± 1°C dried peels of passion fruit was determined according to the
↓ method described by Ranganna (1995).
Dried peels (1.69 kg) 15 g of coarsely ground, dehydrated peels of passion were
↓ weighed in a 1000 mL glass beaker. 400 mL Hydrochloric acid of
Packed in low density polyethylene bags 0.05 molar equivalent/L was added to the peel and boiled gently for
↓ 2 h. The water lost by evaporation was replaced. The contents were
Stored at 10oC cooled and transferred to a 500 mL volumetric flask and the volume
made up with distilled water. The extract was filtered through No. 4
Fig. 1. Flow chart for preparation of passion fruit peel for pectin extraction. Whatman paper. 200 mL aliquot of the filtrate was taken in
1028 S.G. Kulkarni, P. Vijayanand / LWT - Food Science and Technology 43 (2010) 1026–1031

Table 1 standardization and corrections were applied to give jelly grade

Physico-chemical composition of ripe passion fruit. values at 65% soluble solid levels.
Length of fruit (cm) 5.6  0.32
Fruit weight (g) 55.3  6.03 3. Results and discussion
Fruit diameter (cm) 5.5  0.20
Moisture (g/100) 81.5  0.20
Total Soluble Solids ( Brix) 17.0  0.14 3.1. Composition of passion fruit
Total acidity (g/100 g) 4.02  0.07
Starch (g/100 g) 3.0  0.15 The physico-chemical composition of ripe yellow passion fruit is
Total sugars (g/100 g) 11.6  0.13 presented in Table 1. The data indicated that the ripe passion fruits
pH 2.86  0.05
Ascorbic acid (mg/100 g) 32.0  1.20
juice is a rich source of sugars, titrable acidity, starch, ascorbic acid
Total carotenoids (g/100 g 3885  10.21 and total carotenoids. Pruthi, Mookherji, and Lal (1960) reported
Juice content (g/100 g) 33.0  0.15 that passion fruit contained higher carbohydrates as main
Peel content (g/100 g) 50.0  1.06 constituents with an average value of 17.3 g/100 g. The average
Seeds (g/100 g) 13.0  1.10
juice content of passion fruit was found to be 33 g/100 g of fruit.
Pulper waste (g/100 g) 3.8  0.96
Peel and seed content were 50.0 g and 13.0 g/100 g fruit weight,
Fruit length, weight and diameter are an average of 10 fruits.
respectively. Similar reports on pulp, peel and juice content in
Each value is expressed as Mean  Standard deviation (n ¼ 3).
passion fruit were reported by Prasad (1980).

a 1000 mL beaker. 250 mL distilled water was added, neutralized
the acid with NaOH of 1 molar equivalent/L using Phenolphthalein
as indicator. 10 mL of NaOH was added in excess with constant
stirring. The mixture was allowed to stand overnight. 50 mL of
acetic acid solution (30 ml of glacial acetic was made up to 500 mL
with distilled water) was added followed by 25 mL of Calcium
chloride solution (27.5 g of anhydrous Calcium chloride dissolved in
500 mL of distilled water) with stirring. The mixture was allowed to
stand for 1 h and boiled for 2 min. Pectin was precipitated as
Calcium pectate and filtered through a No. 4 Whatman paper. The
precipitate washed with hot distilled water till it is free from
chlorides. The filter paper containing the calcium pectate dried
overnight in a oven at 100  C. The filter paper was cooled in
a desiccator and weighed. Total pectic substance estimated as
calcium pectate in dried peels of passion fruit was considered as
100% pectin for calculating the recovery of pectin from peels during
extraction.
3.2. Dehydration of peels
Dehydration data and chemical composition of peels are pre-
sented in Table 2. Passion fruit peels were dried to desirable
moisture content (4.0 g/100 g) for 360 min at 60  1  C. The drying
curve of peels of passion fruit is shown in Fig. 2. The dehydration
ratio of passion fruit peel was 6.4:1. Total pectic substance esti-
mated as calcium pectate in dried peels was found to be 16.3 g/
100 g of dried peels which was considered as 100% pectin Earlier
reports indicated blanching of passion fruit peels inactivated pectin
degrading enzymes such as pectin methylestrase enzyme activity
and subsequent drying did not alter pectin quality and quantity
appreciably (Prasad, 1980) while in case of citrus peels and mango
peels, the effect of blanching and drying yielded good quality jelly
grade pectin (Chaliha, Barua, & Siddappa, 1963; Sudhakar Rao &
Maini, 1999) . Thus, blanching of passion fruit peels was considered
as a desirable pretreatment for drying the peel.

Pectin as calcium pectateðg=100gÞof dried peels 3.3. Effect of pH

Weight of calcium pectateðgÞ  500ðmLÞ  100
¼ Effect of pH on the yield and quality characteristics of pectin
WeightðgÞof dried peel taken for extraction  200ðmLÞ
extracted from dried peels of passion fruit is given in Table 3. Other
extraction conditions such as the ratio of dried peels to extractant,
extraction temperature, and time were maintained at 1:30 (w/v),
2.9. Characterization of pectin
98.7  C and 60 min, respectively.
The yield of pectin in the first extraction and second extraction
The pectin extracted was analyzed for equivalent weight,
were 9.02 g and 5.78 g per 100 g of dried peel, respectively, at pH
methoxy content and galacturonic acid (Ranganna, 1995). Gal-
acturonic acid content of pectin samples was estimated by the
modified uronic acid carbozole reaction as recommended by Bitter 90
weight loss (g/100g) of peels during drying

and Muir (1962). Standard galacturonic acid Sigma AR grade was

used to prepare standard solutions containing 10–50 mg galactur- 75
onic acid and a standard curve was drawn.
60
2.10. Jelly grade of pectin
45
Jelly grade of pectin isolated from passion fruit peel was deter-
mined by the procedure 5–54 of IFT Committee (1959) on pectin 30

15
Table 2
Composition of passion fruit peel (g/100 g)a dried at 60  C for 6 h.
0
Moisture 4.0  0.11 0 60 120 180 240 300 360 420
Titratable acidity 1.63  0.06
Drying time (min)
Total sugars 10.2  0.55
Calcium pectate 16.3  0.10
Fig. 2. Effect of drying time on weight loss during drying of passion fruit peel. Values
a
Each value is expressed as Mean  Standard deviation (n ¼ 3). are mean of three samples (error bars equal  standard deviations).
 S.G. Kulkarni, P. Vijayanand / LWT - Food Science and Technology 43 (2010) 1026–1031 1029

Table 3
Effect of pH on the yield of pectin extracted from dried peels of passion fruit.a

Chemical parameters pH of extractant (HCl)

1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

Yield of pectin from 1st extraction (g/100 g) of dried peels 3.84  0.10 5.07  0.05 9.02  0.03 7.49  0.10
Yield of pectin from 2nd extraction (g/100 g) 3.64  0.06 4.96  0.11 5.78  0.05 1.37  0.08
Total yield of pectin (g/100 g)b 7.48  0.08 10.03  0.08 14.80  0.06 8.86  0.10
pH of extract 0.90  0.02 1.31  0.05 1.90  0.06 2.20  0.05
TSS of extract ( Brix)c 4.10  0.05 3.90  0.04 3.8  0.04 3.7  0.05
Methoxyl content of pectin (g/100 g) 8.81  0.13 9.10  0.15 9.57  0.11 9.61  0.16
Equivalent weight of pectin 786  1.0 790  1.5 802  1.0 805  1.4

Each value is expressed as Mean  Standard deviation (n ¼ 3).

a
Extraction conditions: Peel to extractant ratio 1:30 (w/v), number of extractions 2, temperature 98.7  C and extraction time 60 min were maintained during pectin
extraction.
b
Yield of pectin g/100 g of dried peels from sum of two extractions.
c
Total soluble solids.

2.0 (Table 3). The total yield of pectin was 14.80 g per 100 g dried
peel . The yield of pectin was found to be significantly less at pH 1.0
and 2.5, respectively. It has been observed that the total yield of
pectin was 94.22 g/100 g of total pectin when the extractant pH was
maintained at 2.0. Yinhua and Huifang (2003) reported similar
results in kiwi fruit peel at pH 2–2.5. Mayers and Baker (1929)
reported that yield of pectin increased with decrease in the pH of
the extractant and maximum yield of pectin was obtained from
lemon albedo with hydrochloric at pH of 1.45.
The quality characteristics of passion fruit peel pectin extracted
at pH 2.5 revealed that the pectin has a methoxyl content of 9.61 g
per 100 g and an equivalent weight of 805, which was found to the
highest among the different extraction conditions studied. Both
methoxyl content and equivalent weight decreased with
decreasing pH of extracting medium which could be due to partial
degradation of pectin (Table 3). It may be concluded that the
maximum yield of pectin can be obtained at pH 2.0 using hydro-
chloric acid.
due to the insufficient quantity of extracting medium required for
solublizing the pectin (Table 4). Thus, the maximum yield of pectin
was 14.8 g/100 g of dried peel, obtained at 1:30 (w/v), peel to
extractant ratio. It also indicated that maximum pectin from
passion fruit peels could not be recovered in single extraction and
second extraction was found necessary. The recovery of pectin from
the first and the second extraction was found to be more than 93 g/
100 g of the total pectin present in dried peels when the ratio of
peel and extractant was 1:30 (w/v). Hence, it was found not
necessary to employ third extraction. The methoxyl content and
equivalent weight of pectin extracted with peel to extractant ratio
(1:30, w/v) was found to be 9.61 g/100 g and 803.4, respectively
(Table 4). The yield of pectin in mandarin orange peel was reported
to be 11.44 g/100 g on dry weight basis, using one part of fresh peel
and four parts of extractant and there was no significant difference
in methoxyl content at different dilutions (Agarwal & Pruthi, 1968).
3.5. Effect of extraction time

3.4. Effect of peel to extractant ratio and number of extractions
The effect of peel to extractant ratio on the yield of pectin is
presented in Table 4. The pH of the extracting medium, extraction
period and extraction temperature were kept at 2, 60 min and
98.7  C, respectively. The peel to extractant ratio for extraction of
pectin from dried passion fruit peel was varied from 1:10 to 1:40
(w/v). The yield of pectin was increased from 1.91 to 14.80 g/100 g
of dried peel when the peel to extractant ratio increased from 1:10
to 1:30 (w/v), respectively. Further increase in the volume of
extractant did not show any significant effect on the pectin yield.
The yield of pectin was found to be low 1.91 g/100 g of dried peel at
1:10 peel to extractant ratio. The low recovery of pectin could be
The yield of pectin at different extraction times is shown in
Table 5. The extraction time were maintained at 30, 45, 60 and
90 min for each extraction. The other extraction conditions such as
peel to extractant ratio, pH of extractant, and extraction tempera-
ture were maintained at 1:30 (w/v), 2.0 and 98.7  C, respectively.
The results showed that the yield of pectin increased with
increase in extraction time. The pectin yield was 7.96 g/100 g of
peel at 30 min boiling which increased to 9.06 g/100 g peel at
60 min boiling (Table 5). However, further increasing the extraction
time to 90 min did not increase pectin yield significantly. Thus, the
optimum time of extraction for the maximum yield of pectin was
found to be 60 min without affecting the quality of pectin in sum of
two extractions (14.83 g/100 g of dried peels). Similar results were

Table 4
Effect of peel to extractant ratio and number of extractions on the yield of pectin from passion fruit peel.a

Chemical parameters Dried peel: extractant (w/v)

1:10 1:20 1:30 1:40

Yield of pectin from 1st extraction (g/100 g) of dried peels 1.10  0.04 2.82  0.05 9.15  0.10 9.55  0.77
Yield of pectin from 2nd extraction (g/100 g) 0.81  0.04 2.43  0.03 5.65  0.06 5.55  0.03
Total yield of pectin (g/100 g)b 1.91  0.04 5.25  0.04 14.80  0.08 15.10  0.05
pH of extract 1.75  0.04 1.80  0.05 1.86  0.04 1.90  0.03
TSS of extract ( Brix)c 4.36  0.04 3.84  0.06 3.71  0.03 3.51  0.01
Methoxyl content of pectin (g/100 g) 9.32  0.12 9.45  0.25 9.61  0.23 9.71  0.22
Equivalent weight of pectin 826  1.0 813.5  1. 1 803.4  1.03 781.0  0.09

Each value is expressed as Mean  Standard deviation (n ¼ 3).

a
Extraction conditions: pH of extractant 2.0, number of extractions 2, temperature 98.7  C and extraction time 60 min were maintained during pectin extraction.
b
Yield of pectin g/100 g of dried peels from sum of two extractions.
c
Total soluble solids.
1030 S.G. Kulkarni, P. Vijayanand / LWT - Food Science and Technology 43 (2010) 1026–1031

Table 5
Effect of extraction time on the yield of pectin extracted from passion fruit peel.a

Chemical parameters Extraction time (minutes)

30 45 60 90
Yield of pectin from 1st extraction (g/100 g) of dried peels 5.59  0.05 7.79  0.07 9.06  0.03 8.91  0.03
Yield of pectin from 2nd extraction (g/100 g) 2.37  0.06 3.73  0.03 5.77  0.04 4.85  0.04
Total yield of pectin (g/100 g)b 7.96  0.06 11.52  0.05 14.83  0.04 13 76  0.04
pH of extract 1.76  0.06 1.80  0.03 1.83  0.05 1.88  0.04
TSS of extract ( Brix)c 3.2  0.03 3.61  0.04 3.73  0.03 4.00  0.04
Methoxyl content of pectin (g/100 g) 9. 84  0.11 9.71  0.10 9.55  0.12 7.36  0.11
Equivalent weight of pectin 839.1  0.11 815.3  0.09 804.2  1.01 750  1.00

Each value is expressed as Mean  Standard deviation (n ¼ 3).

a
Extraction conditions: pH of extractant 2.0, number of extractions 2, temperature 98.7  C and peel to extractant ratio 1:30 (w/v) were maintained during pectin extraction.
b
Yield of pectin g/100 g of dried peels from sum of two extractions.
c
Total soluble solids.

reported on pectin extracted from mandarin orange peels by
Agarwal and Pruthi (1968).
Pectin extracted for 30 min had higher methoxy content (9.84 g/
100 g) and equivalent weight (839.1), compared to extracted for
60 min with a methoxyl content of 9.55 g/100 g and an equivalent
weight of 804.2. Methoxyl content and equivalent weight
decreased with increasing extraction time (Table 5). This could be
due to the partial degradation of pectin.
3.6. Effect of extraction temperature
Effect of extraction temperature on the yield and quality of
pectin are presented in Table 6. Extraction of pectin was carried out
at different temperatures keeping peel to extractant ratio of 1:30
(w/v), pH of extractant 2.0 and extraction period of 60 min. The
extraction was carried out at 70, 80, 90 and 98.7  C.
The yield of pectin increased significantly with the increase in
temperature of extraction from 70  C to 98.7  C. The total yield of
pectin was significantly less (4.39 g/100 g of dried peels) at 70  C.
As the extraction temperature increased the yield of pectin also
increased. The maximum pectin yield of 9.22 g/100 g was observed
at 98.7  C in first extraction and 5.6 g/100 g in the second extraction
(Table 6). The total yield of pectin from first and second extraction
was 14.82 g/100 g dried peel when extraction temperature was
98.7  C. Thus the yield of pectin was maximum when extraction
temperature was 98.7  C with two extractions. Similar observations
were reported for dried peels of mango var. Totapuri, Langra and
Chausa by Sudhakar Rao and Maini (1999).
The pectin extracted at low temperature had high methoxyl
content and equivalent weight. The results indicated that higher
the extraction temperature, higher the yield of pectin but methoxyl
content and equivalent weight decreased. This could be due to the
partial degradation of pectin. Hence, the optimum temperature for
extraction of pectin was found to be 98.7  C (Table 6).
Precipitation of pectin requires higher quantity of ethyl alcohol.
The recovery of ethyl alcohol after precipitation by distillation is
very important for effective utilization of solvent. Vacuum
concentration of pectin extract significantly reduced the volume of
pectin extract to ¼ the level, which in turn reduced the amount of
alcohol required for the precipitation of the pectin extract. Evalu-
ation of pectin indicated no significant changes in the quality of
pectin extracted by this method. Zhang and Liu (2000) studied the
conditions for precipitation of pectin extract from pomelo (Citrus
grandis) peels and extraction of apple peel was reported by Chen
and Li (1994). Pomelo peel and apple peel extracts were mixed
separately with alcohol and aluminum sulphate for precipitation of
pectin. In case of alcohol precipitation, highest pectin yield and best
quality were obtained. Pectin obtained using aluminum sulphate
was of lowest quality and quantity than that produced by using
alcohol. Similar studies were also reported that the alcohol
precipitation method was the best for precipitation of pectin
extract from mango peel (Yinhua & Huifang, 2003; Yu & Valle 1979).
3.7. Composition of pectin extracted from passion fruit peel
The composition and characterization of pectin extracted from
passion fruit peels showed that the pectin had a methoxyl content of
9.6 g/100 g, anhydrogalacturonic acid content of 88.2 g/100 g, jelly
grade of 200 and ash content of 0.39 g/100 g . The average pectin
content was found to be 14.8 g/100 g comparable to the apple pectin
content of 17.0 g/100 g (Kertesz, 1951), Coorg Mandarin Orange peel
pectin content of 15.8 g/100 g (Pruthi, Parekh, & Lal, 1961) and mango
peel pectin content of an average value of 10.97–14.68 g/100 g from
partially to fully ripe mango peel, respectively (Yu & Valle, 1979). The

Table 6
Effect of extraction temperature on the yield of pectin from passion fruit peel.a

Chemical parameters Extraction Temperature ( C)

70  C 80  C 90  C 98.7  C
Yield of pectin from 1st extraction (g/100 g) of dried peels 2.05  0.05 4.0  0.06 5.03  0.03 9.22  0.04
Yield of pectin from 2nd extraction (g/100 g) 2.34  0.07 2.32  0.07 3.92  0.10 5.60  0.05
Total yield of pectin (g/100 g)b 4.39  0.06 6.32  0.07 8.95  0.06 14.82  0.05
pH of extract 1.87  0.05 1.86  0.03 1.85  0.04 1.83  0.04
TSS of extract ( Brix)c 2.50  0.04 2.85  0.02 3.02  0.03 3.73  0.02
Methoxyl content of pectin (g/100 g) 9.90  0.16 9.81  0.15 9.72  0.10 9.56  0.12
Equivalent weight of pectin 820.2  1.20 815.5  1.14 810.0  1.0 804  1.10

Each value is expressed as Mean  Standard deviation (n ¼ 3).

a
Extraction conditions: pH of extractant 2.0, number of extractions 2, peel to extractant ratio 1:30 (w/v) and extraction time 60 min were maintained during pectin
extraction.
b
Yield of pectin (g/100 g) of dried peels from sum of two extractions.
c
Total soluble solids.
 S.G. Kulkarni, P. Vijayanand / LWT - Food Science and Technology 43 (2010) 1026–1031
pectin extracted from peels of passion fruit is comparable to Mandarin
Orange peels and Coorge Orange peel, which have been shown to
contain pectin of 150–200 grades (Agarwal & Pruthi, 1972; Pruthi
et al., 1961). It is reported that yellow passion fruit (Passiflora edulis
f. flavicarpa Degener) rind consists of 19.1% pectin substances on dry
weight basis. The fractionation of these pectic substances with water,
ammonium oxalate and dilute nitric acid solutions yielded pectin
fraction with a high anhydrogalacturonic acid content and had a low
degree of methyl esterification (Yapo & Koffi, 2006). Pinheiro et al.
(2008) reported that degree of esterification of pectin increased when
lower citric acid concentration was used for extraction from passion
fruit peel. A citric acid concentration of 0.086% (w/v) for 60 min
yielded high ester pectin.
4. Conclusion
It may be concluded from the above studies that good quality
pectin can be extracted from the peels of passion fruit using hydro-
chloric acid. Extraction of pectin was found to be more than 93 g/100 g
of total pectin at pH 2.0, peel to extractant ratio of 1:30 (w/v),
extraction temperature of 98.7  C and time of extraction of 60 min
with two extractions. The passion fruit peel yielded pectin of 14.8 g/
100 g with a methoxyl content of 9.6 g/100 g, equivalent weight of
803, galacturonic acid of 88.2 g/100 g and jelly grade of 200. The
pectin was high methoxyl type with good jellying capacity. The yield
and quality of pectin extracted from passion peel were comparable to
those of pectin extracted from peels of mandarin oranges and apple.
The utilization of passion fruit peel for commercial pectin production
will not only solve the problems of waste disposal but also meet the
requirement of pectin in the market to some extent. The pectin
extracted from the peels of passion fruit can be used for enhancing the
functional properties of different food products.
Acknowledgement
The authors are grateful to Dr.V. Prakash, Director, CFTRI, Mysore
for his keen interest and constant encouragement during the
course of this investigation.
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