果胶是一种组成和结构复杂的天然植物亲水性胶体，广泛存在于高等植物的细胞中。因果胶具有良好的水溶性、稳定性、胶凝性、乳化性等性质以及安全无毒、生物相容性良好、可生物降解的天然属性和降低胆固醇、抗肿瘤、抗氧化、降血糖等多种生理活性，且利用其分子结构中的羟基、羧基、糖苷键等活性官能团进行物理、化学、酶处理及复合改性后能显著改善其理化性质、增强其功效性能，使得果胶及其改性产物在食品、医药等领域得到广泛应用，并在日用化工、功能材料、可降解生物质材料等领域展现出巨大的应用潜力。本文浅述了果胶的来源、结构和典型理化性质与功能特性，并较为系统地介绍了果胶的提取方法、分离纯化技术和改性手段，同时概述了果胶及其改性产物的应用情况，并提及了果胶及其改性产物当前所面临的主要问题以及将来的研发方向和发展前景。
Pectin is a kind of natural hydrophilic colloid with complicated composition and structure, which has been abundantly found in the cells of higher plants. Pectin has good water solubility, stability, gelling ability and emulsifying ability, as well as safety and non-toxicity, good biocompatibility, biodegradability, and many excellent biological activities such as lowering cholesterol, anti-tumor, anti-oxidation, and lowering blood sugar. Moreover, both its physicochemical properties and functional performance can be further improved by physical, chemical and enzymatic treatments and compound modification upon the active functional groups, such as hydroxyl groups, carboxyl groups and glycosidic bonds. Therefore, pectin has been widely used in many fields, including food industry and pharmaceutical industry. Furthermore, great application potential has emerged in daily-use chemical industry, functional materials, and biodegradable biological materials. In this review, the source, chemical structure, main physicochemical properties and functional characteristics of pectin were briefly introduced. The extraction methods, separation and purification technologies, and modification methods for pectin were also systematically presented. In addition, the situation of application as well as the current problems for pectin and its modified products were summarized. Finally, some of the directions of future research and development of pectin were pointed out.
