Caracterización de pectina obtenida a partir de cáscaras de pitahaya (Selenicereus megalanthus).

Abstract

The purpose of this research was the characterization of pectin obtained from pitahaya peels (Selenicereus megatanthus) from the cities of Palora, Santo Domingo, and Babahoyo, for which the experimental treatments were considered as the site of origin with five replicates of each one and distributed under a DCA. The pectin extraction process was conducted under the same conditions as the treatments, with acid hydrolysis at 90 °C for 90 minutes with 0.1 N hydrochloric acid. The experimental results were analyzed using the statistical software Infostat vs. 2020, where the analysis of variance and Tukey's test for the separation of means were performed. It was determined that pitahaya peels contain an average of 77.50% moisture, 1.54% ash, and a pH of 5.99, with little variations according to the place of origin. The pectin with the highest methoxyl index (10.76 %) and degree of gelation (98.83) were those from Palora, and those from Babahoyo (8.92 % and 97.37, in that order) were of the lowest quality. The best yield response was obtained in Santo Domingo (9.24%) with a production cost of US$20.93/kg and a B/C of 1.43%. It is recommended to extract pectin from pitahaya peels from Palora because it presents better methoxyl index contents and gelification degree. Although economically, it is more profitable to obtain pectin from the peels from Santo Domingo.