Physicochemical Characterization and FTIR Spectroscopic Study of Pectin from Bombax ceiba (Bamta) Fruit

Pectin is a naturally occurring biopolymer which can be used for food and pharmaceutical applications. In this study the effect of temperature, time and pH on the yield, physicochemical characteristics of pectin extracted from Bombax ceiba fruits was investigated. The extraction of pectin was done using citric acid buffer followed by 96% alcohol precipitation. The optimum temperature, time and pH for the  extraction of pectin were determined to be 85 °C, 90 min and 2.0, respectively. The yield of pectin under these optimum conditions was found to be 16.35%. The physicochemical properties determined under these optimum conditions were found to be; equivalent weight; 765.40 mg/mol, methoxyl content: 6.62%, anhydrouronic acid content; 65.25%, degree of esterification; 72.45%, moisture content; 1.30% and ashcontent; 0.60% for Bombax ceiba fruits extracted pectin, respectively. FTIR was also utilized for characterizing the pectins. Generally, the findings of the study showed that the pectin extracted from Bombax ceiba fruit can find industrial applications, especially in food processing and pharmaceutical industries.