Impacts of thermal and non-thermal processing on structure and functionality of pectin in fruit- and vegetable- based products: A review

• The molecular structure of pectin is often altered during food processing. • Effects of processing on pectin structure are highly dependent on the plant origin. • Targeted control of pectin structure enhances texture, rheology, and nutrition. • Finding balance among quality indicators of processed product is major challenge. Pectin, a major polysaccharide found in the cell walls of higher plants, plays major roles in determining the physical and nutritional properties of fruit- and vegetable-based products. An in-depth understanding of the effects of processing operations on pectin structure and functionality is critical for designing better products. This review, therefore, focuses on the progress made in understanding the effects of processing on pectin structure, further on pectin functionality, consequently on product properties. The effects of processing on pectin structure are highly dependent on the processing conditions. Targeted control of pectin structure by applying various processing operations could enhance textural, rheological, nutritional properties and cloud stability of products. While it seems that optimizing product quality in terms of physical properties is counteracted by optimizing the nutritional properties. Therefore, understanding plant component biosynthesis mechanisms and processing mechanisms could be a major challenge to balance among the quality indicators of processed products.