Award details

Functional sugar beet pectin

Reference	BBS/E/F/00042316
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Victor Morris
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors	Mr Allan Gunning, Professor Peter Wilde
Institution	Quadram Institute Bioscience
Department	Quadram Institute Bioscience Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	98,923
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	28/02/2007
End date	27/02/2010
Duration	36 months

Abstract

Pectin is widely regarded as a natural material and there is increasing evidence for useful bioactive properties of pectin. Traditionally pectin is extracted from the solid residue left after juice extraction in the cider and citrus fruits industries and is used as a gelling agent for the food industry. Pectin extracted from sugar beet pulp, a by product of the production of sugar from sugar beet, is unusual in that it can be used to stabilise food emulsions. Food emulsions are produced by generating and stabilising droplets of oil in water or water in oil. The stabilisation is achieved through the structures formed when molecules (emulsifiers) adsorb at the interfaces between the oil and the water. Carbohydrates such as pectin are normally poor emulsifiers, but sugar beet pectin is known to contain protein which is believed to account for its ability to act as an emulsifier. By using novel microscopic techniques that can visualise molecules we have identified the presence of protein-pectin complexes in sugar beet pectin extracts. This new knowledge allows us to suggest and test mechanisms by which beet pectin extracts can stabilise emulsions. It also suggests ways in which the properties of the beet pectin extracts could be rationally improved to enhance their commercial value. The imminent cut in the EU subsidy for sugar beet also provides an incentive for improving or generating new commercial uses for beet pectin in order to help sustain production of this crop in the UK, particularly in the East Anglia region. Currently the main carbohydrate-based food emulsifier is gum Arabic. This is imported from Africa and political and environmental uncertainties can threaten stability of cost and supply. Sugar beet pectin extracts offer a UK alternative with stable cost and supply.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Closed Committee - Agri-food (AF)
Research Topics	Crop Science, Plant Science
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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