Proximate Characterization of discarded fruits and their valorization to obtain pectin

A thorough proximate analysis of the various fruit peels were conducted. The eventual outcome of the proximate examination declared that, pineapple had highest moisture content of 11.47%, followed by banana with 11.0% and lastly, Citrus with 9.94%. On the basis of ash/mineral content, pineapple peel, Citrus peel, and banana peel had 8.08%, 4.54% and 16.27% respectively.

In terms of crude protein, pineapple gave the highest crude protein of 10.29%, followed by banana with 8.77% whereas Citrus gave 6.57%. After the crude fat determination, banana waste possessed the highest fat content of 13.8%, followed by pineapple, 3.69% and Citrus waste being 2.65%. In the crude fibre analysis, Citrus peel waste had 13.72%, with pineapple peel following closely with 12.05% while powdered banana peel clocked 10.95%.

On the basis of Nitrogen-free extract (NFE), Citrus possessed the highest, 62.58%, with pineapple coming second with 54.42% whereas banana gave 39.18%. All the samples possessed equal amount of metabolizable energy of 2959.59 Kcal/Kg in them. The end of the pectin extraction operation revealed that, Citrus peels produced highest pectin (26.2%) followed by pineapple peels with extraction yield of 15.6% whereas banana peels gave 11.2%.

The results highlight that discarded fruits contain beneficial phytochemicals such as pectin, which can be useful in the food and pharmaceutical sectors.