Polysaccharide systems, structuring pectin

Extrusion-cooking of cell-wall rich products (e.g. wheat bran, apple pomace, citrus peels, sugar-beet pulp, pea hulls.) led to an important solubilisation of polysaccharides of various types without extensive degradation of the polymeric structure. The possibility of obtaining gelled systems directly with the extruded pectin-rich materials was demonstrated. 

Chemical classification of polysaccharides is the least ambiguous system of grouping these macromolecules. Polysaccharides of different origins can have similar structures, as Kravtchenko et al. (1992) discovered in lemon and apple pectin. Likewise, polysaccharides of the same origin can have different structures, as for example, the concentration of pyruvate and acetyl substituents in xanthan, depending on incubation conditions (Pettitt, 1982). 

A number of factors must be considered when selecting a suitable polysaccharide or combination of polysaccharides to fabricate a biopolymer-based delivery system. It is important to establish suitable environmental and solution conditions in which the polysaccharide molecules can associate with other polysaccharide or non-polysaccharide structure-forming molecules. To do so, one needs to know the physicochemical properties of the polysaccharides involved, such as helix-coil transition temperatures (for carrageenan, alginate,pectin) electrical properties (pKa values) sensitivity to specific monovalent or multivalent ions or susceptibility to enzyme or chemical reactions (BeMiller and Whistler, 1996). The most widely used carbohydrates for encapsulation purposes are probably alginates (Kailasapathy and Champagne, 2011 Kainmani et al, 2011), starch (Li et al, 2009) and its linear biopolymer amylose (Lalush et al, 2005). 

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