Pectin Content in Tropical Fruit Grown in Sicily

In the last few years in Sicily has been developed growing of tropical fruit as Mango, Feijoa, and Annona,. In order to exploit these fruits, the Authors studied in the past the content of tocopherols. In this work the authors have determined in these fruits the content of pectin, a dietary fiber that is increasingly considered from the point of view of the food and pharmaceutical industry. The average content of pectin in the fruit was respectively about 16.5% for the Mango, 11% for the Feijoa and 14.5% for the Annona. The data obtained are interesting, also compared to those reported in the literature. On the residue deprived of pectin the tocopherols are determined, the data show that extraction treatment does not heavily influence the content. Further, in the case of fruit processing to obtaining juices, as is already made on a large scale for the Mango, the residual pulp may constitute a good source of pectin and the final residue, still rich of tocopherols, could be usable in cattle feed.