The comparison between enzymatic, Ohmic and conventional methods on the yield and quality properties of the extracted pectins from orange waste

Ohmic heating or direct resistance heating is one of the several electromagnetic based methods, occurs when alternating electrical current is passed through a conductive material, with the primary purpose of heating it due to the electrical resistance of the foods. There are many applications that can use ohmic treatment technology, such as blanching, evaporation, dehydration, fermentation, extraction, sterilization and pasteurization of foods (Saberian et al. 2015; Assiry et al. 2010). Pectins are complex heteropolysaccharides, consisting of α-1, 4-linked D-galacturonic acid units and interrupted by L-rhamnose residues with side chains of neutral sugars, mainly L-rhamnose, L-arabinose and D-galactose. In the industrial extraction process, pectin is usually extracted from waste plant material such as citrus peels, apple pomace, sugar beet pulp and sunflower head using hot water (60–100°C) acidified with a mineral acid (such as sulfuric, phosphoric, nitric, hydrochloric) or organic acid (especially citric acid) within the pH of 1.5–3 for 0.5–6 h. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of enzymatic extraction on the yield and quality properties (degree of esterification, Galacturonic acid, emulsifying properties and viscosity) of the pectin, and to compare this pectin with the pectins extracted by ohmic and conventional methods. Finally, the best extraction method was selected.
Extraction of pectin was done with the assistance of an ohmic heating system at working frequency of 50 Hz under different parameters including voltage gradient (7-15 V/cm), temperature (50-90°C), and time (5-30 min). Then, the effect of enzyme dose (0-20% v/w) of Celluclast and Rohament CL, solid/liquid ratio (S/L ratio) (1:10 to 1:50 g/ml) and extraction time (1-18 h) on the yield of the extracted pectin from orange waste was investigated.
After the time of extraction (enzymatically, ohmically or conventionally), the sample was cooled to room temperature and centrifuged (10000 rpm, 15 min), and the supernatant was precipitated with two volumes of 96% (v/v) ethanol at 4 °C for 1 h. The precipitated pectin mass was washed twice with 96% ethanol in order to remove impurities. The pectin was dried in a forced circulation oven at 55°C until a constant weight (14 h).
Galacturonic acid content was determined according to Scott (1979) with some modifications. The degree of esterification (DE) of pectin samples was determined by titrimetric method according to Santos et al. (2013).
Emulsifying activity and emulsion stability were measured according to the method described by Yapo et al. (2007).
The viscosity and the flow behavior of the selected pectin solutions (2%, w/v) extracted conventionally and ohmically at 90°C for 30 min (the optimum extraction condition) and the highest pectins extracted enzymatically, were measured at 25°C.
Pectin powder samples were mixed with KBr and pressed into KBr pellets before FTIR analysis. PerkinElmer FTIR spectra (PerkinElmer, Frontier model, USA) was applied at the transmission mode in the frequency range of 4000–400 cm-1 at a resolution of 1 cm-1.
Results were analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) using SPSS 19 statistical software and the Duncan’s test with 95% confidence interval was used to compare the means of the tests. The results which were presented in this research, have been obtained from the average values of the minimal two replicate experiments.
first, the effect of enzyme dose, solid/liquid ratio (S/L ratio) and time of extraction on the yield of the extracted pectin from orange waste by using Celluclast and Rohament CL enzymes was studied. Then, the yield, of esterification, galacturonic acid, emulsifying properties and viscosity behavior of the pectins extracted in the optimum condition by enzymes were compared to the extracted pectins by ohmic and conventional methods. Results indicated that the highest yield of pectin was obtained by using Celluclast and Rohament CL enzymes at enzyme doses of 15 and 17.5%, S/L ratio of 1:20 and 1:40 (g/ml) and time of 3 h for both, which were 5.92 and 10.70 %, respectively. The highest yield of pectin by ohmic heating was obtained at the voltage gradient of 15 v/cm, the temperature of 90°C during 30 min (14.33%), which was higher than the amount obtained by conventional method (13.53%) may be due to the electroporation (disruptive pores which were made on the cell membrane by the electric field) (Cho et al., 1996). de Oliveira et al. (2015) reported that the moderate electric field (at 45°C, 50 and 100 V) extracted the pectin significantly (p