A Study on the Content of Pectic Substances in Vegetables

In recent years it has been reported that pectic substances have the action of lowering the level of cholesterol in blood plasma.The contents of pectic substances in twenty-four kinds of vegetables were examined. At first, the vegetables were treated with boiled 70% ethyl alcohol so as to remove sugars and dried. The thus obtained dried materials were successively divided by the fractional extraction into three fractions, i.e. soluble in water at 30°C, 0.4% sodium hexametaphosphate at 30°C, and 0.05N hydrochloric acid at 85°C. The pectin content (Ca-pectate) in each pectin-soluble fraction was quantitatively determined.The total content of pectin contained in fresh vegetables was as follows:2% or over: Soybeans, immature.1.00-1.99%: Pumpkin, Garlic, Great edible burdock.0.50-0.99%: Eschallot, Garden beet, Arrowhead, Potato white, Carrot, Yam, Peas with pod, immature, Sweet pepper, Kidney beans with pod, immature.0.10-0.49%: Dasheen taro, Eggplant, Garden rhubarb, “Udo”, Onion, Japanese radish root, Turnip, Cucumber, Green pepper, Indian lotus.