Gelatin is one of the most widely used food ingredients, with wide applications in the food
industry. It was reported that 41% of the gelatin produced in the world is sourced from pig
skin, 28.5% from bovine hides and 29.5% from bovine bones. However, factors such as the
outbreak of BSE (a.k.a. mad cow disease) and increasing demand for non-mammalian gelatin
for halal and kosher food markets have revived interest in gelatin replacers from plant sources.
In this study, we have successfully extracted valuable pectin—as gelatin replacer--from various
types of plant wastes. Pectin is a high value functional food ingredient widely used as a gelling
agent and stabilizer. It is also an abundant, ubiquitous and multifunctional component of the
cell walls of all land plants. Mango peel was screened as the ideal source for high-yield (36.6%)
pectin of satisfactory quality. The results indicate that citric acid was the best solution for
recovery of pectin from mango peels. An extraction temperature of 90°C and pH 2 provided
the optimum conditions for maximum yield of pectin. The resulting crude mango peel pectin
(CMPP) was analyzed for physicochemical parameters. The results indicated values for ash
content (0.0412%), moisture content (0.303%), viscosity (45.18%), galacturonic acid content
(36.8-37.2-40%) and degree of esterification (38.3-41%). Following analysis of its gelling
properties and sensory evaluation, CMPP has good potential to be applied in the food industry
as a low-methoxyl pectin and a cheap source of gelatin replacer for jam preparations.