EXTRACTION, PURIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF PECTIN OBTAINED FROM THE PULP OF PARKIA BIGLOBOSA AND THE EVALUATION OF ITS CYTOTOXIC ACTIVITY ON HEPG2 CANCER CELL LINE

Pectin, a naturally occurring polysaccharide that has a wide range of industrial applications especially in the pharmaceutical industries, has in recent times gained a lot of attention by researchers with potential breakthrough as a therapeutic agent. The aim of this research was to extract, purify and characterize pectin obtained from the pulp of Parkia biglobosa and to evaluate its cytotoxic assay on HepG2 cancer cell line. Acidified water (using HNO3 and HCl) was used for the extraction at pH levels 1.5, 3 and 5. Chemical and spectroscopic characterizations were adopted for this rresearch,and it was observed that pectin was best extracted from the source at a pH level of 1.5. The oil holding capacity was 1.41 g/g, while the percentage solubility, ash content and moisture content were 70%, 2.87% and 15.72% respectively. The pectin extract was found to have an equivalent weight of 953.19 kgmol-1, whereas the AUA (anhydrouronic acid) content, methoxyl content, and DE (degree of esterification) were found to be 60.48%, 7.40%, and 69.50% respectively. The following functional groups: carboxyl, hydroxyl (3500 - 3300 cm-1 indicating -OH stretching vibration of carboxylic group), C-O-C stretching vibration, and an aromatic C-H vibration of methyl group, were found present. The percentage cytotoxicity values obtained at various concentrations (125 µg/cm3, 250 µg/cm3, 500 µg/cm3 and 1000 µg/cm3) of the pectin extract, were 4.60 %, 13.70 %, 16.8 % and 46.8 % respectively. This shows the cytotoxic activity of pectin extracted from the pulp of Parkia biglobosa on HepG2 cancer cells, and its potential of being an anticancer agent. The findings in this research have further placed Parkia biglobosa as a good source of commercial pectin for pharmaceutical application.