COMPARISON OF THE CONFORMATION OF TOMATO PECTINS WITH APPLE AND CITRUS PECTINS

The conformation of hot break tomato pectins in water/glycerol solutio ns as a function of degree esterification was studied and compared wit h the conformation of apple and citrus pectin using reduced storage [G ']R and loss [G'']R moduli and the theories of Marvin and McKinney for rod-like behavior and those of Rouse as well as Zimm for random coil conformation. In all three cases the theory of Zimm implying dominant hydrodynamic interactions fit the experimenal data best. This is consi stent with current knowledge on chemical structure of pectin where the charged uronides clearly readily interact with each other.