Pectin is commonly used food additive. Depends on the source of the acquisition, its properties may vary significantly, therefore pectin obtained from different sources may be used for various purposes. Little information can be found about the properties of blackcurrant pectin. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate blackcurrant pectin properties, with particular emphasis on biopolymer behaviour in aqueous solutions. Applied water extraction resulted in a water-soluble fraction of pectin with Mw = 115.75 kg·mol-1. Aqueous solutions of obtained polysaccharides was tested with various methods (membrane osmometry, DLS, NMR, viscosity tests) that allowed for a comprehensive description of biopolymer-biopolymer and biopolymer-water interactions in both, dilute and semidilute regime. Blackcurrant pectin exhibits behaviour characteristic for polyelectrolytes. The analysis of the obtained results shows that, despite its low molecular weight, obtained pectin has a highly branched structure, which influences strong intermolecular interactions in solutions.
Keywords: Blackcurrant; Intrinsic viscosity; Membrane osmometry; NMR; Polyelectrolyte.
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