Innovative potential of sea buckthorn pectin in providing textural properties to food and pharmaceutical products.

Abstract

The innovative potential of sea buckthorn pectin in food structure formation has been demonstrated, attributed to its unique functional properties. This study presents the results of theoretical and experimental investigations into the characteristics of pectin extracted from the peel of Hippophae rhamnoides (cv. “Leikora”) grown in the right-bank region of Kherson, Ukraine. In food and pharmaceutical processing technologies, there is a growing need for viscous solutions with adjustable rheological properties, which depend on equipment specifications and the desired characteristics of the final product. To assess possible structural transitions, the influence of sea buckthorn pectin concentration on the activation parameters of viscous flow ‒ namely, activation enthalpy and activation entropy ‒ was examined. The studied sea buckthorn pectin exhibited a notably low “critical” concentration, indicating a high thickening capacity. Within the studied concentration range, the activation enthalpy and entropy changed in parallel. As the polysaccharide concentration increased, both activation parameters initially increased and subsequently declined, while viscosity increased throughout the entire concentration interval. At sub-critical pectin concentrations, the effective shear viscosity was primarily governed by the activation enthalpy. In contrast, above the critical concentration, viscosity was mainly determined by the entropic component. It was shown that aqueous solutions of sea buckthorn pectin can be effectively used as model fluids for simulating the complex rheological behavior of materials employed in various technological processes. The rheological properties of food systems incorporating sea buckthorn pectin were also investigated, and deformation parameters of experimental model formulations of combined meat-vegetable-pectin pastes were determined. In samples containing sea buckthorn pectin, a decrease in total, plastic, and elastic deformation was observed. The results of rheological and physico-mechanical tests demonstrated that the incorporation of sea buckthorn pectin into the formulation significantly influenced the structural integrity of the composite mixtures. Experimental data confirmed that sea buckthorn pectin improved the stability and homogeneity of highly concentrated meat-plant systems, facilitating the formation of a cohesive and stable food matrix. The influence of sea buckthorn pectin on the techno-functional properties of food and pharmaceutical systems holds promising potential for further research, especially in light of its innovative applications.