Chemical Properties of Pectin from Industry Hot and Cold Break Tomato Products

Abstract

Tomato processing includes a break step, which involves rapid heating of freshly chopped tomatoes to >90˚C for hot break, or 60˚C to 77˚C for cold break. Pectolytic enzyme deactivation is believed to be the key element in the hot break step; therefore, pectin content of different products should be qualitatively distinct. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of hot break versus cold break on the cell-wall pectin of tomato. Cell-wall pectin from hot and cold break tomato products was isolated and analyzed for carbohydrate composition, degree of polymerization, and degree of esterification. The results showed no observable differences in the cell-wall pectin isolated from the two products, indicating that there was no significant pectolytic breakdown of the tomato in the cold break product, and the pectin might not, by itself, contribute to the differences in the final product viscosity resulting from the two processing techniques.