Pectin has been used for decades to lend adequate setting properties to jellies and marmalades, either by making the food products using fruits such as apples that contain high-quality pectin or adding such fruits to recipes. In 1825, pectin was isolated and the ingredient that provided this particular feature, and during the Industrial Revolution and into the 1920s and 1930s, manufacturers began extracting pectin from apple pomace and from citrus peels.1
Food researchers are testing lesser-used forms of pectin to learn how they might be able to alter food manufacturing. It has been determined that High Methoxyl Pectin (HMP) may have uses and beneficial properties that are somewhat different from traditional pectin. This means that the HMP market is expected to grow significantly over the next five years, even with COVID-19 considerations.2
Chemically, HMP has more esterification.1 This means that creating a gel begs a different environment. Depending on the exact HMP, a gel may form in a slightly less acidic environment, and the addition of sugar encourages the formation of a gel.3 However, since HMP tends to set rather rapidly, some of these forms of pectin may be most appropriate for use in small-batch items, such as single-serving pouches and cups.
Recent research has found that butternut squash and passion fruit peel are two food products that yield beneficial HMP. Pectin from butternut squash is helpful for stabilizing emulsions and for forming more of a viscous solution than a firm gel. The pectin from the passion fruit peel was found to be able to form a weak gel without the addition of any sucrose whatsoever. This means that passion fruit peel HMP could be particularly versatile in food formulation.5
Based on the above information, there appear to be two different areas to enter the HMP market here. One is to formulate food products using HMP sources, such as from butternut squash or passion fruit peel. There are opportunities to use the altered gel formation requirements to make changes to products and offer something that may fill a health or food trend need by increasing sugar or decreasing acidity of a product. Additionally, there are also avenues that could be pursued in the area of HMP extraction and use of byproducts following extraction; the subsequent products of which would appeal to consumers seeking more environmentally friendly product options.
Recommended Reading
- Pectin
- High Methoxyl Pectin Market 2020 Research by Size, Top Leading Countries, Companies, Consumption, Drivers, Trends, Forces Analysis, Revenue, Challenges and Global Forecast 2025: COVID-19 Impact on Industry
- Structure-Related Gelling of Pectins and Linking with Other Natural Compounds: A Review
- Butternut Squash Pectin Shows Promise As A Food Additive
- High methoxyl pectin from the soluble dietary fiber of passion fruit peel forms weak gel without the requirement of sugar addition
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