The present invention relates to the use of an activatable pectin-containing apple fiber for preparing products in the food or non-food area. The invention also relates to products containing the activatable pectin-containing apple fiber.

The invention relates to a process for reducing the reactivity of pectin extracted from a raw material containing a high proportion of calcium-sensitive pectin, the process comprising subjecting the extracted pectin to enzymatic depolymerization.

[Problem] An object is to obtain a water-soluble polysaccharide (mainly pectin) in a high yield under mild extraction conditions (temperature and pH) and also without using any special agent or extraction device, and to suppress the excessive degradation of the polysaccharide (reduction in the molecular weight of a neutral sugar side chain, demethyl esterification, and deacetylation).

[Means for Solution] By adjusting the particle size of pulp dried with superheated steam of the beet pulp generated as a by-product in a step of producing sugar from sugar beet and using the resultant as a raw material, a water-soluble polysaccharide (mainly pectin) can be obtained in a high yield in a short time under mild extraction conditions, and also the excessive degradation of the water-soluble polysaccharide (reduction in the molecular weight of a neutral sugar side chain, demethyl esterification, and deacetylation) can be suppressed.

Methods for producing an activated pectin-containing biomass composition are provided. These methods include A) mixing a starting pectin-containing biomass material comprising an insoluble fiber component and an insoluble protopectin component with an aqueous solution of an alcohol to form a mixture; B) activating the starting pectin-containing biomass material to form an activated pectin-containing biomass material comprising the insoluble fiber component and a soluble pectin component by subjecting the starting pectin-containing biomass material to (i) an activating solution formed by adding hydrochloric acid and/or sulfuric acid to the mixture to adjust the pH of the mixture within the range from at or about 0.5 to at or about 2.5 and (ii) heat to a temperature greater than at or about 40 degrees Celsius; C) applying mechanical energy either (i) to the mixture of step A), (ii) during the activating of step B), or (iii) to the mixture of step A) and during the activating of step B); and (D) separating the activated pectin-containing biomass material from the mixture. Alcohol is generally present in the mixture at an amount of greater than about 35 weight percent based on the total weight of the mixture. Activated pectin-containing biomass compositions are also provided.

The present invention relates to the use of an activatable pectin-containing citrus fiber for preparing products in the food or non-food area. The invention also relates to products containing the activatable pectin-containing citrus fiber.

An ultrasonic extraction equipment includes a solution tank and a plurality of ultrasonic transducers. The ultrasonic transducers are disposed on an outer surface of the solution tank. The ultrasonic transducers include a central ultrasonic transducer and a plurality of peripheral ultrasonic transducers arranged to surround the central ultrasonic transducer.

Methods for producing an activated pectin-containing biomass composition are provided. The method includes (A) mixing a starting pectin-containing biomass material comprising an insoluble fiber component and an insoluble protopectin component with an aqueous solution of an alcohol to form a mixture; (B) activating the starting pectin-containing biomass material to form an activated pectin-containing biomass material comprising the insoluble fiber component and a soluble pectin component by subjecting the starting pectin-containing biomass material to (i) an activating solution formed by adding acid to the mixture to adjust the pH of the mixture within the range from at or about 0.5 to at or about 2.5 and (ii) heat to a temperature greater than at or about 40 degrees Celsius; and (C) applying mechanical energy either (i) to the mixture of step A), (ii) during the activating of step B), or (iii) to the mixture of step A) and during the activating of step B); and (D) separating the activated pectin-containing biomass material from the mixture; wherein during the method the alcohol present in the mixture is at or greater than about 40 weight percent based on the total weight of the mixture. Activated pectin-containing biomass compositions are also provided.

Process for the treatment of biomass comprising dried and pulverized citrus pulp, said process comprising the following steps: A. mixing the biomass with a process solvent selected from a eutectic solvent comprising a hydrogen bond acceptor and a hydrogen bond donor, an ionic liquid and a mixture of said eutectic solvent and said ionic solvent, and precipitation of cellulose residues; B. separation of the insoluble cellulose residues precipitated in step A; C. separation of the hemicellulose and the pectin from the process solvent; wherein in the aforesaid step C. of the separation of hemicellulose and pectin is performed through the addition of a lower alcohol and water, thus allowing the precipitation of the hemicellulose and the pectin and their subsequent separation with conventional techniques from the liquid phase comprising process solvent, organic solvent and possibly water.

The present disclosure discloses an ultrasonic-assisted method of extracting a pectin rich in RG-I. The method includes: (1) dispersing citrus peel powders in an alkaline solution containing sodium borohydride; (2) placing a solution obtained in step (1) in a water bath of 25 to 40° C., and performing an ultrasonic treatment on the solution obtained in step (1); (3) centrifuging the solution subjected to step (2) at a speed of 6000-8000 rpm to remove residues, retaining a supernatant, and precipitating a pectic polysaccharide with absolute ethanol; and (4) adding water to the pectic polysaccharide precipitant subjected to step (3) to obtain a redissolved solution, transferring the solution to a dialysis bag with a molecular weight cut-off of 3000 to 3500 Da, dialyzing for 48 hours, and freeze-drying in a vacuum freezer to obtain the pectin rich in RG-I.

Disclosed is a method for joint recovery of pectin from citrus peels and alkaline/acidic processing water from citrus canning, including the following steps: adding fresh citrus fruit peels to alkali/acid processing water from citrus fruit canning for extracting; filtering the resulting mixture, adding to the resulting filtrate 95% ethanol 1 to 3 times the volume of the filtrate, and then adjusting the pH to a range of 3.5 to 7, followed by standing for 10 minutes to 4 hours; filtering the product after standing, washing the resulting precipitate with 50% to 70% ethanol, and drying and crushing, thereby obtaining pectin. The method makes full use of waste resources from citrus fruit canning, solves the problem of pollution by processing discharge water, and has the advantages of saving the preparation cost of pectin from citrus peels, and improving the solubility of recovered pectin.