Utilization of Pectin Extracted Sugar Beet Pulp for Composite Application

摘要

Sugar beet pulp (SBP) is the residue left after beet sugar extraction. SBP contains approx25percent pectin and is an important resource for pectin. However, sugar beet pectin does not have good gel-forming properties and complete extraction of pectin is not typically performed due to the low quality of the galacturonic acid-containing polysaccharide remaining following commercial pectin extraction. This study was to find out what level of residual pectin is needed for making SBP composites and the effects of pectin content on the properties of the resulting composites. In this work, the pectin extracted SBP (PE-SBP) was recombined with pectin to prepare SBP composites. The compounding of pectin and PE-SBP was conducted using a twin-screw extruder, and water and glycerol were used as plasticizers. Pectin was plasticized during extrusion and behaved like a binder or matrix for the pectin/PE-SBP compounds, depending on pectin content. Mechanical and thermal properties of the compounds were studied and the results showed that utilization of the PE-SBP as a resource for plastic materials is possible.