A comparison of different techniques for water-based extraction of pectin from orange peels

The extraction of pectin from orange peels has been studied using microwave and conventional extraction, with operating conditions including different extraction periods, different solvent pHs, and different types of solvent systems. The extracted pectin from orange peels was initially precipitated with concentrated ethanol and was quantified by the carbazole assay. For microwave extraction, the greatest total amount of pectin yield was found to be 5.27% on a dry basis for 15 minutes of extraction, although the greatest amount of material per unit time (%/min) was obtained after 5 minutes. This amount was the same as that extracted using Soxhlet extraction for three hours. The 15-minute microwave extraction period was further investigated at pH values of 1.5, 2.0, 5.5, and 10.0. The greatest amount of pectin was extracted from orange peels at the most strongly acidic condition of pH 1.5. The effect of a solvent system containing ethanol and EDTA (ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid) with a 15-minute extraction period and a pH of 1.5 was studied, giving approximately double the amount of pectin extracted using distilled water.