Pectin Structure

Figure 1. The polygalacturonan backbone of pectin. (A) shows four galacturonic acid units, three of which are
methylated, drawn according to the Haworth convention. (B) shows the same structure with the galacturonate
units drawn in their chair configuration to illustrate the zigzag shape of the chain.

Figure 2. The insertion of an L-rhamnose residue (shaded) into a sequence of galacturonate residues:
[….4)–GalA-α-(14)−GalA-α-(12)−Rha-α-(14)−GalA-α-(14)−GalA-α-(1….) can be seen to disrupt
the regular zigzag pattern. As drawn here three of the galacturonate residues are esterified with methanol. The
terms Rha and GalA are the conventional abbreviations for rhamnose and galacturonate, respectively.

Figure 3. The effect of (A) the insertion of anomalous residues, and (B) the attachment of side chains in otherwise
homogenous polymer chains on the formation of junction zones (shaded).

Taken from Coultate T (2009) Food – The Chemistry of its Components, RSC Publishing