VALORIZATION OF CITRUS FRUIT PROCESSING WASTE

Abstract

Currently, the food industry accounts for the largest amount of waste, a third of which is waste from the processing of fruits into natural fruit juices, the consumption of which has recently increased significantly due to health problems among the population. The transition to a healthier and more natural lifestyle involves reducing the consumption of soft drinks, which can contain high concentrations of sugars, artificial colors, preservatives, and increasing the production of natural juices. Studies were carried out on citrus fruits: mandarin, lemon, orange and pomelo. The possibility of valorization of citrus fruit juice production waste: peel and juice bags to obtain high-quality dietary fiber-pectin was studied. The process of pectin hydrodistillation has been studied: the influence of the collection time and fruit morphology on the pectin yield, the time of pectin extraction and the type of extractant have been determined, the kinetics of the extraction process and its dependence on the temperature and concentration of the extractant have been studied, for a more complete isolation of the pectin sol, the need for preliminary concentration of its extracts by membrane methods has been shown. Based on the study of pectin quality parameters, such as the content of galacturonic acid and the degree of esterification, the optimal parameters of the pectin extraction process were formulated.