International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 7, Issue 3, March-2016 416 ISSN 2229-5518 IJSER © 2016 http://www.ijser.org A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF EXTRACTION OF PECTIN FROM WET AND DRIED PEELS USING WATER BASED AND MICROWAVE METHODS Udonne J.D.(1), Ajani O.O.(2). Akinyemi O.P.(3) (1,3) Department of Chemical and Polymer Engineering, Lagos State University (2) Department of Chemistry, Covenant University, PMB 1023, Ota,Ogun State * Corresponding author: udonne.joseph@gmail.com ABSTRACT: This research effort aim at determining the effect of drying on the extraction of pectin from lemon peels. Two methods were used to extract pectin from lemon peels namely: the water base extraction method and the microwave extraction method. These methods were carefully carried out on both the fresh and the dry peels samples. First, the samples were washed, partially dried for the fresh peel and completely dried for the dry peel. Sulphuric acid was used in setting the pH of the solutions to 1, 2 and 3 in the water based extraction method while the use of Ethylene DiamineTetraacetic Acid (EDTA) and Sodium Hydroxide (NaOH) were used to set the pH to 1.5 and 10 respectively for the microwave extraction method. The solvent systems were then treated with the pectin samples at different times and temperatures to obtain varying results. The effect of time, temperature, pH and solvent systems were then studied and the yields obtained were recorded and compared. The results obtained shows that when a peel is completely dried using sun, it losses some amount of pectin probably due to thermal degradation of the pectin in the albedo resulting in pectin yield becoming small. The result also revealed that increase in acidity, extraction time and temperature increases the yield by a range of 0.01 to 0.50. KEYWORDS: Albedo, Pectin, microwave method, water based extraction, solvent systems, fresh and dry peels. ——————————  —————————— INTRODUCTION Pectin is a naturally-occurring thickening agent that is most often used by adding it to jams, jellies and similar products to help them gel and thicken. Pectin creates a thick, clear set when it gels. It is a carbohydrate (a polysaccharide) found in and around the cell walls of plants, and helps to bind those cells together. All fruit has pectin in it, but the amount varies widely. Apples and oranges contain the most pectin, and the pectin from both fruits is used commercially to thicken many different types of products. Pectin generally needs high sugar content and some acid, such as citric acid, to activate, and some commercially available pectins include citric acid as an ingredient to help ensure that consumers get their desired result when working with their products. Pectin can be bought at the grocery store in both powder and liquid forms, and it can also be introduced to a recipe by adding fruit that has high natural pectin content, such as apples or plums. IJSER