Coffee pulp is one of the major underutilized byproduct of coffee processing in farm level. Disposal of this agro-industrial waste has become one of the most challenging tasks for coffee planters. However, most of the efforts are towards the management of coffee pulp as an effluent, and not-on re-use. The problem is compounded due to the large volumes produced in diluted forms, which makes it expensive to reuse. The preliminary proximate analysis of coffee pulp indicated it to be rich in pectin and polyphenols. The efficacy of various chemicals like ethanol, sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, nitric acid, ammonium oxalate and metal salts for effective precipitation of pectin from coffee pulp was evaluated. HPLC characterization of the extracted and concentrated polyphenols fractions was analyzed. The maximum extraction of pectin was achieved by using metal salts and ethanol with 6.0% and 6.7% on wet weight basis respectively. The equivalent weight of extracted pectin (1180.5 mg/g) was found to be higher than that of commercial pectin (724.8 mg/g). The methoxyl content of the commercial pectin and crude pectin were 9.3 and 5.6% respectively. Gallic, vanillin, catechin, ethyl catechol, coumaric, Caffeic, and ferulic acid were the major polyphenols as quantified by the HPLC. The polyphenol fraction showed a good antioxidant activity with phosphomolybdate, FRAP, DPPH, and ABTS radicals respectively. The sustainable utilization of coffee pulp as a source of pectin and polyphenols with good antioxidant activities could help to solve the problem of waste generated in coffee processing in farm level.
Keywords: Antioxidant activity; Coffee pulp; Pectin; Polyphenols.
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