Pectin as Natural Polymer:An Overview

From last few decades natural sources are gaining much more importance because of easy availability, low cost, non-toxicity, biocompatibility etc. of these natural products make them potential carriers in the drug delivery systems. A variety of benefits have been offered by plants and plant derived products in the pharmaceutical industry and acts as a source for number of therapeutically active drugs and excipients. Pectin is a naturally derived polysaccharide and currently various plant sources like oranges, different citrus fruits and apple pomace have been used for extraction of pectin under acidic conditions. It has excellent biodegradable and biocompatible nature which leads to various potential applications of pectin in pharmaceutical and foods industries. An attempt has been made in this review to briefly highlight the sources of pectin, classification, chemistry and pharmaceutical uses of pectin.