The physicochemical and antimicrobial properties of cocoa pod husk (CPH) pectin intended as a versatile pharmaceutical excipient\nand nutraceutical were studied. Properties investigated include pH, moisture content, ash values, swelling index, viscosity, degree of\nesterification (DE), flow properties, SEM, FTIR,NMR, and elemental content. Antimicrobial screening and determination of MICs\nagainst test micro organisms were undertaken using agar diffusion and broth dilution methods, respectively.CPHpectin had aDE of\n26.8% and exhibited good physicochemical properties. Pectin had good microbiological quality and exhibited pseudoplastic, shear\nthinning behaviour, and high swelling capacity in aqueous media.TheDE, FTIR, and NMRresults were similar to those of previous\nstudies and supported highly a cetylated low methoxy pectin. CPH pectin was found to be a rich source of minerals and has potential\nas a nutraceutical. Pectin showed dose-dependent moderate activity against gram positive and gram negative microorganisms but\nweak activity against Listeria spp. and A. niger.The MICs of pectin ranged from 0.5 to 4.0mg/mL, with the highest activity against E.\ncoli and S. aureus (MIC: 0.5ââ?¬â??1.0mg/mL) and the lowest activity against A. niger (MIC: 2.0ââ?¬â??4.0mg/mL).The study has demonstrated\nthat CPH pectin possesses the requisite properties for use as a nutraceutical and functional pharmaceutical excipient.
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