Microwave-assisted extraction of crude pectin from sitaya citrus processing waste: Impact of microwave power on yield and characteristics

Abstract

Citrus is one of the national superior fruit commodities which is spread almost in all regions of Indonesia. There is a lot of citrus peel as a secondary product derived from the production of citrus beverages conducted by KPRI Citrus. One of the citrus varieties that has been used is Sitaya Citrus. This citrus peel has not been managed or utilized properly even though the citrus peel has a fairly high pectin content. Pectin is a complex polysaccharide compound with the main component of D-galacturonic acid. This study aimed to obtain crude pectin from citrus peel and determine its characteristics. Pectin was extracted from the citrus peel using the Microwave Assisted Extraction (MAE) method. The treatments given were 360, 450, 540, 630, and 720W power for 2 minutes. Subsequently, pectin was analyzed for its characteristics, including equivalent weight, methoxyl content, galacturonic acid content, esterification degree, and water content. With this treatment, it is known that the microwave power treatment has a very significant effect at the level of p<0,01 on the pectin yield. The highest pectin yield was obtained from the 720W power treatment, which was 12.103%. It is known that microwave power treatment has no significant effect on the crude pectin characteristics of Sitaya Citrus peel.