The pectin content in different types of fruit crops and their physicochemical characteristics

Currently pectin is widely used in food industry, pharmaceutical industry, medicine, and other industries due to its ability to form gels of different strength, and to having curative and preventive characteristics. Kabardino-Balkaria is one of the regions with industrial amounts of fruits, rich in pectin substances. In order to select the most promising raw materials for commercial production of pectin in the fruit of zoning in the territory of the Republic was determined the content of pectin substances and their physico-chemical parameters in the varieties of apples (Idared, Granny Smith, Florina), pears (Clapp Favorite, Talgar beauty), apricots (Ruddy, Salah), plums (Stanley, Kabardian early). It was established that the greatest number of pectin substances among varieties of apples is allocated in apples in Granny Smith sort, in pears in Clapp Favorite, in plums in Stanley, and in apricots in Salah sort: 1,14, 0,98, 1,03, 0.71% in the raw substance, respectively. It was found that pectin from apples, plums, apricots and pears with the exception of Clapp Favorite is highly etherified. The degree of methoxylation of pectin from apples varies between 70.71–81.85%, plums – from 60.99 to 67.31%, apricots – from 63.72 to 68.25%, from the pear Talgar beauty – 56.0%. Pectin from apples Granny Smith has the highest value of the degree of etherification. A high degree of etherification of pectin in this sort of apples can be recommended as thickening agents in different branches of food industry. Pectin from pears Clapp Favorite has low degree of etherification – 40.7%, that shows the evidence of their possible use in the manufacture of therapeutic and prophylactic purposes. According to the planned program of intensive horticulture in the region, by 2020 the area of Apple orchards will be up to 15 thousand hectares, and the harvest – up to a million tons. Taking that fact and the obtained experimental data into account, we assume that apples are industrially important raw material for the production of pectin.