Extraction of Pectin from Fruit wastes– an effective method of municipal solid waste management

The study was aimed at utilization of the fruit wastes collected from UzhavarSanthai, Chokkikulam, Madurai. Different fruit wastes were collected in separate baskets before they were dumped to the bin and were utilized for the extraction of useful by products viz., pectin and ethanol. Pectin was extracted from the peels and ethanol was extracted from the pulp. The ethanol extracted from the fruit pulp was used to extract pectin from the fruit peel. A considerable amount of pectin could be extracted per day from the collected fruit wastes. The extracted pectin was characterized by using spectral and thermal techniques. The food quality of the extracted pectin was compared with that of the FCC standard and it was found to be of good quality.