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An explorative study on the cell wall polysaccharides in the pulp and peel of dragon fruits (Hylocereus spp.)

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Abstract

The pectic and hemicellulosic cell wall polysaccharides from the pulp and the peel of white-flesh and red-flesh dragon fruits (Hylocereus spp.) were isolated and compared in terms of degree of methoxylation (DM), solubility properties (relative content of uronic acids and neutral sugars in different fractions), neutral sugar composition, molar mass distribution, and affinity toward some specific anti-pectin antibodies. Hereto, the alcohol-insoluble residues were extracted and sequentially fractionated using hot water, a chelating agent, sodium carbonate, and potassium hydroxide solutions to obtain different pectin fractions and a hemicellulose fraction. Chemical analyses were used to characterize these polysaccharide fractions. The results show that cell wall polysaccharides of the pulp and especially of the peel from white-flesh and red-flesh dragon fruits contain significant amounts of pectic substances that are lowly methyl-esterified. The cell wall polysaccharides of the peel as well as those of the pulp contain high amounts (38–47 %) of loosely bound (water-soluble) pectic substances. In the water-soluble fraction (WSF) of the peel samples, uronic acids are the predominant monomers. On the contrary, rhamnogalacturonan-I type neutral sugars, and especially arabinose and galactose, contribute equally, as compared to uronic acid, to the WSF of the pulp samples. Despite the low average DM value of pulp and peel pectin, pectic substances in both samples showed affinity for antibodies with different specificities indicating that a wide range of epitopes, including long blocks of unesterified galacturonic acids (GalA) residues as well as (short) blocks of esterified GalA residues, is present. No large differences between the pectic substances among the different dragon fruit varieties were observed.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Food Technology and Engineering, Department of Food Safety and Food Quality, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000, Ghent, Belgium

    Wijitra Liaotrakoon, Nathalie De Clercq & Koen Dewettinck

  2. Laboratory of Food Technology, Leuven Food Science and Nutrition Research Centre (LFoRCe), Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems (M2S), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 22, Box 2457, 3001, Leuven, Belgium

    Sandy Van Buggenhout, Stefanie Christiaens, Ken Houben & Marc E. Hendrickx

Authors
  1. Wijitra Liaotrakoon
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  2. Sandy Van Buggenhout
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  3. Stefanie Christiaens
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  4. Ken Houben
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  5. Nathalie De Clercq
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  7. Marc E. Hendrickx
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Correspondence to Wijitra Liaotrakoon.

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Liaotrakoon, W., Van Buggenhout, S., Christiaens, S. et al. An explorative study on the cell wall polysaccharides in the pulp and peel of dragon fruits (Hylocereus spp.). Eur Food Res Technol 237, 341–351 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-013-1997-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-013-1997-7

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