Pectin gelation and its assembly into functional materials

Abstract

Naturally-occurring pectin-containing matrices are an exemplar for understanding the way Nature crafts materials from molecules, and offer a natural paradigm for the design of our own sustainable materials and devices. This chapter briefly reviews different pectin gels, and how their properties are measured and modelled. It contains pointers to some interesting and less well-known techniques that are being applied to study gelled pectic systems over the large range of spatiotemporal scales inherent in soft matter systems, as well as some more practical discussions of sample preparation and assembly.