The use of pectinase in fruit juice production

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The use of pectinase in fruit juice production

- Pectinase is a mixture of enzymes which is used in the fruit juice industry where they extract, clarify and modify fruit juices. (Cellulose also does this).

Pectins are large polysaccharide molecules. They are made of hundreds of chains of galacturonic acid residues. The pectin chain is held together by a bond between carbon 1 of one galacturonic acid and carbon 4 of the next one and so on. The diagram shows where the pectin comes from in a plant. It is gel like and forms in the primary cell walls and in the middle lamella layer which sticks adjacent cells together.

The pectin is broken down by enzymes in the pectinase group, which include polygalacturonases, pectin methyl esterase and pectin lyases. All three contribute to the breakdown of pectins from a variety of plant materials. Pectinase enzymes are produced during the ripening of some fruits and are also secreted by plant pathogens such as the fungus: Monilinia fructigena and the bacteria: Erwinia carotovora or the fungi: Aspergillus niger. The pectinase enzymes act in different ways on the pectins, for example they help soften their cell