What is pectin and how is it made? Calorie content and chemical composition, benefits and harms when introduced into the diet. Dishes with a gelling agent and interesting facts about it.
Pectin is a polysaccharide, an organic sorbent formed by residues of galacturonic acid. Literal translation from Greek from "pektos" - frozen or curled up. It is produced in the form of a liquid extract or powder, the trade name of the supplement is E440. Produced by extraction (treatment with a solvent that is not miscible with the starting material) of the fruit cake. Pectin acts as a preservative and is widely used in the pharmaceutical, food and chemical industries.
Pectin production features
The technology for the production of the gelling agent is described as follows. Before making pectin, the raw material is washed, excess liquid is removed, and crushed in cake. Then they move on to the main stage - extraction. Organic and mineral acids, cultures of various bacteria can be used as solvents.
The resulting extract is filtered, clarified and evaporated in a vacuum unit. To precipitate pectin, aliphatic alcohols (usually ethanol or grape) are added to the extract. Then drying and pre-sale preparation is carried out - combining with sugar, grinding to a homogeneous consistency and packaging in bags.
There are many recipes for making pectin at home:
- Berry currant or gooseberry … The cake (1 kg), remaining from the juice, is put into a saucepan and 1 liter of water is poured. Leave for 40 minutes over low heat to partially boil off the water, allow to cool. Stir with 700-800 g of sugar, put on a nylon sieve (better a little), grind. Then boil for a few minutes to remove excess liquid. The resulting pectin can be used immediately or rolled up in sterilized jars.
- Apple Pectin … Apples, 1 kg, washed, dried with a paper towel, cut into arbitrary slices without removing the core. Spread in a bowl with thick walls and a bottom, pour half a glass of water and keep on low heat for about half an hour, without bringing bubbles. Then the whole mass is placed in a sieve and left for 5-6 hours until the juice drains. This juice contains a lot of pectin. Heat the oven to 90-100 ° C, put a tray in it and evaporate the water until a fine brown powder remains in the baking sheet. This usually takes 6-7 hours. You can store the powder in sealed dry glass jars in the dark at room temperature, or pour the thick juice into jars and freeze. Shelf life is 1 year.
- Homemade pectin for the "lazy" … Apples (1 kg) are processed as in the previous recipe. Preheat the oven to 180 ° C, mix apples with one lemon, chopped together with the peel, pour 120 g of boiled water and stew until soft. Then the whole mass is spread in cheesecloth, folded in 2 layers, and suspended for several hours. When the juice is almost completely drained, the cake is squeezed out. Evaporation can be omitted.
- Citrus … The white part is separated from the peel of any citrus (it is better to use assorted as a raw material), crushed, poured with lemon juice (6 tablespoons per 0.5 kg of raw material) and water (0.5 l). The resulting mixture is stewed for 10-14 minutes over low heat, cooled and filtered. The juice can be evaporated or frozen. Dishes made from citrus pectin have a delicate delicate taste. Such a product is stored frozen for no longer than 10 months.
Composition and calorie content of pectin
The industrially refined gelling agent is tasteless and odorless. But the product that is sold in stores is most often mixed with sweetener, granulated sugar or powdered.
The calorie content of pectin is 52 kcal per 100 g, of which:
- Proteins - 3.5 g;
- Carbohydrates - 9.3 g;
- Dietary fiber - 75.5 g;
- Ash - 1.5 g;
- Water - 10 g.
The pectin contains vitamin PP - 0.5 mg.
Macronutrients per 100 g:
- Potassium, K - 108 mg;
- Calcium, Ca - 40 mg;
- Magnesium, Mg - 14 mg;
- Sodium, Na - 426 mg;
- Phosphorus, P - 25 mg.
Of the trace elements, iron is present - 1.9 mg.
Digestible carbohydrates are represented by mono- and disaccharides - 9.3 g per 100 g.
Due to its beneficial composition, pectin is used not only as an ingredient in various dishes, but also for weight loss. If you eat 25 g of gelling substance before going to bed, you can get rid of 300 g per day, but not due to excess water, but due to the stratification of the formed fat layer.
Useful properties of pectin
The main property of this product is the adsorption and removal of heavy metal salts from the intestinal lumen, including the most dangerous for the body - cadmium, mercury, lead and thallium. Organic matter is not absorbed into the mucous membrane, the vital activity of bacteria does not suppress.
Benefits of pectin:
- Prevents the development of atherosclerosis.
- Creates favorable conditions for the vital activity of the beneficial microflora of the small intestine.
- Increases immunity, normalizes the production of macrophages, prevents the release of histamine.
- Normalizes digestive processes, stops diarrhea and treats constipation.
- Possesses bactericidal and antimicrobial action.
- Prevents the appearance of peptic ulcer disease, erosive gastritis and prevents putrefactive processes in the intestines.
- Normalizes protein-lipid metabolic processes.
- It stabilizes the function of the pancreas and liver, prolongs the life cycle of hepatocytes.
- Accelerates the dissolution of food sugars.
- Reduces the level of cholesterol circulating in the blood, stops the formation of deposits in the lumen of blood vessels and prevents their fragility.
- Helps to recover from operations and serious illnesses, heals wounds with a violation of the integrity of the skin.
- Normalizes the amount of sugar in the blood. In diabetes mellitus, it reduces the manifestation of symptoms.
- Has an antioxidant effect, stimulates the production of galectins - special protein structures that suppress the development of atypical cells.
- Stops age-related changes, starts intercellular metabolism, stimulates the breakdown of fat into glycerin and water, and accelerates the excretion of these components.
You should not hope to replenish the supply of this substance in the body with the help of marshmallows or other delicacies. Slimming dose - 15-25 g per day. So much substance is contained in 7 packs of marmalade, packaged in 100-gram packs. But when eating fresh apples or berries, you can limit yourself to 0.3-0.5 kg per day.
In case of allergies, a homemade product made from apples should be preferred
Contraindications and harm of pectin
Do not give organic sorbent to children under 6 years of age, pregnant women and women during lactation. Dysbiosis may appear.
The product should be used with caution in case of peptic ulcer disease, chronic pancreatitis and gastritis.
The harm from pectin can occur when abused. An overdose is indicated by:
- fermentation and increased flatulence;
- skin irritation, redness, itching and rash;
- exacerbation of enterocolitis;
- frequent constipation or diarrhea.
To minimize the harmful effects of pectin, when purchasing from a pharmacy, you must strictly observe the dosage indicated in the instructions. The usual recommendation is 0.5 tsp. dissolve in 2 glasses of water and drink in 2 doses.
Pectin recipes
The norm of the gelling additive is 3.5 g per 1 kg of fruit or berries. It is not recommended to exceed this amount, but if you need to fix the shape of the dish, it is better to first cook a portion of the thickener in order to firmly determine the amount. You just need to remember: 15 g per 1 kg is the limit. The powder is mixed with sugar and only then added to the boiling syrup, stirring thoroughly. Cook for no longer than 2-4 minutes. If overexposed, the thickening properties are reduced.
Pectin Recipes:
- Strawberry jam … The strawberries are washed and laid out on paper towels to remove excess moisture. Berries, 1 kg, are filled with 700 g of sugar. Stir constantly, boil for 5 minutes so that the sugar completely melts. Remove the container from the heat, allow to cool, add 100 g of granulated sugar, after mixing it with 20 g of pectin. Put it on the fire again, let it boil for 5 minutes, pour in the juice of half a large lemon and stir well. After cooling down, you can taste it.
- Pepper jelly with pectin … A glass of chili peppers in the pods are peeled and cut into small pieces. Pour everything into a blender and pour 280 ml of wine vinegar, interrupt in mashed potatoes. Transfer to a deep frying pan, add 5 cups of cane sugar and cook for 5 minutes over low heat, stirring constantly and removing the foam. Add 50 g of powdered pectin, bring to a boil and turn off. Roll up in sterilized jars until it gets cold.
- Viburnum ice cream … Kalina, 0.5 kg, rubbed through a sieve. 1 tbsp. l. pectin is mixed with 2 tbsp. l. granulated sugar and dissolved in viburnum juice. Refrigerate for 40 minutes to thicken the mixture. Viburnum puree is mixed with powdered sugar, 200 g, with a whisk. Whisk 33% cream, add viburnum juice with powder. All ingredients are placed in an ice cream maker and thickened. Poured into bowls and put into the freezer. If there is no ice cream maker, then everything is mixed and cooled several times. When removed from the freezer, interrupt with a whisk until uniform freezing is achieved.
Note! Powdered pectin can be mixed with cold liquids, and as a liquid extract with hot liquids. The extract is only sold at the pharmacy.
Interesting facts about pectin
The gelling agent is introduced into low-calorie jams and yoghurts, is used to make enterosorbents, creams and masks, and cigars and cigarettes are glued with it.
There are several types of organic sorbent:
- LMA - amidated, the most expensive, based on them are made dietary supplements for weight loss;
- LM - low methoxylated, for drugs;
- NM - highly methoxylated, used as a food additive.
Large amounts of pectin in apple cider vinegar. Masks with this substance increase skin tone, help get rid of age spots, and wraps - from cellulite.
Berries with a high pectin content - black currants, cherries, raspberries and strawberries; vegetables - cucumbers, potatoes, eggplants and beets; fruits - plums, citrus fruits, pears and apples.
Thanks to the seven-day diet, you can lose 3 kg. Additional recommendations - drink 2 liters of liquid a day, except for soups, and exercise for at least 30 minutes a day. Approximate menu:
Monday
- Breakfast: salad of grated green apples, seasoned with freshly squeezed lemon juice, sprinkled with grated walnuts.
- Lunch: also apple salad, but sliced greens are added to it - cilantro, parsley or dill, 2 boiled eggs.
- Dinner: apples and tangerines.
Tuesday
- Breakfast: boiled rice with grated apples.
- Lunch: casserole with baked apples and pumpkin, seasoned with cumin and cinnamon.
- Dinner: buckwheat with apricots or peaches.
Wednesday
- Breakfast: oatmeal with blueberries.
- Lunch: cottage cheese with tangerine jelly.
- Dinner: buckwheat porridge with walnuts, stewed quince and apples.
Thursday
- Breakfast: oatmeal with apricots.
- Lunch: beet salad with grated eggs.
- Dinner: carrot and nut fresh with Hercules or muesli.
Friday
- Breakfast: potato casserole with eggplant.
- Lunch: rice porridge with stewed pumpkin.
- Dinner: apples with buckwheat or lemon syrup.
By Saturday, you should expand the diet to make it easier to switch to regular meals
- Breakfast: green salad with hard eggs, sour cream, 2 apples.
- Lunch: rice casserole with apples and nuts.
- Dinner: some oatmeal with grated carrots, orange for dessert.
Sunday
- Breakfast: cottage cheese with oatmeal cookies and apricots or plums.
- Lunch: boiled rice with pumpkin casserole, cucumbers.
- Dinner: fruit salad with buckwheat.
If you are constantly suffering from hunger, you can eat 100 g of bran bread a day, and unsweetened yogurt as a snack.
To speed up metabolic processes, before each meal, take half a glass of pure water with a dissolved organic sorbent in 30 minutes. The dose should be reduced by 8-10 g, it is this amount that is obtained from fruits and vegetables.
When making dishes, you can replace pectin with a mixture of cornstarch with lemon juice, gelatin, or agar-agar. But if you plan to lose weight, then it is advisable to give preference to a fruit and vegetable diet or purchase a pharmacy sorbent.
Types of pharmaceutical preparations with pectin:
- Attapulgit or Kaopectil - for the treatment of diarrhea in pill form;
- Pecto - powder from intoxication;
- Carbopect, liquid coal - prevents dehydration;
- Citrus pectin capsules have been used for digestive disorders.
The composition of drugs with an organic sorbent often includes succinic acid, taurine and inulin, which enhance its effect. Before using pharmaceuticals of different forms, you must carefully read the instructions.
How to use pectin - watch the video:
