Naturprodukt mod 1 - Herbstreith & Fox in fruit juices some 200 years ago. At that time, ......

PectinA Product of Nature

Pectin is a natural product. Theuniversally used jellifying and

stabilizing agent whichnowadays is ani n d i s p e n s a b l ecomponent of agreat variety ofproducts in either thefood industry, whereit is used in the

production of jams,confectionery articles,

baked and dairy productsor in the nonfood industry, such

as in cosmetics and pharma-ceutics, where pectin has inrecent years gained increasinglyin importance.The benefits of a naturalingredient are also moreand more appreciated bythe consumer, in fact, thetrend to natural productsand natural componentscontinues unbroken.

These days, the CorporateGroup Herbstreith & Fox is oneof the major producers ofpectins worldwide. We startedas one of the first companies in1934 with the large-scaleproduction of jellifying extractsfrom pure pomace. Decades ofexperience in research anddevelopment, production, salesand managment as well as asophisticated and top-qualityproduct range are the basis ofour present success in the worldmarket.

The natural product pectin hasa great potential. Our large andsteadily growing clientele andworldwide business contacts areobligation and motivation forus.

Corporate GroupHerbstreith & Fox

Pectin - The Natural Product

Apple Pomace

Precipitated pectin

Dried pectin before grinding

Pectin is a natural substancewhich is present in a great

many vegetable foodstuff,e.g. fruits and vegetables. Asstructural element in thegrowth generating t issueand main component of themiddle lamella in plants itprovides cohesion and stabilityin tissues and cells.

Pectin as a name is derivedfrom the Greek word”pectos”, which meansgelatinated, or solidified.

Pectin is a rather youngproduct. The scientistVauquel in discovered itsexistence in fruit juices some200 years ago.

At that time, however, in 1790,the year of birth for pectin, itwas not yet called by that name.The name was first used in1824, when Braconnotcontinued the research startedby Vauquelin. He called the gel-forming substance pectic acid.

Smolenski in 1924 was thefirst to assume a substancefrom polymeric galacturonicacid in pectin.In 1930, Meyer and Markdiscovered the chainformation of the pectinmolecule. And Schneider andBock in 1937 established theformula.

The practical potential wasrecognized only at thebeginning of this century.The excel lent je l l i fy ingpropert ies of pectin wereemployed in the production offoodstuff, which marked thebeginning of the large-scaleproduction of pectin.

The founder of our company,Hermann Herbstreith, dis-covered six decades ago theusefulness and multivariedappl icat ion potential ofpomace, a by-product fromthe fruit juice manufacture

and discarded until then. Fromthen on, the undervaluedpomace served as valuableraw material in the productionof apple pectin.

State-of-the-art scientif icmethods made it possible inrecent decades to come to anincreasingly accurate analysisof pectin grades, which todayputs us in the position to

develop and customize specialpectins for pract ical ly al lspecific areas of application.

From A Formula To Pectin

Gewebequerschnitt durch eine Citrusschale

The molecular structure ofvegetable pectins is

somewhat complicated. It isformed with D-galacturonicacid molecules which arelinked to each other by -(1-4)-glycosidic bonds to becomepolygalacturonic acid. Thecarboxyl groups are partiallyesterified with methanol, andthe secondary alcohol groupsmay be partially acetylated.

The presence of neutralsugars, such as xylose,galactose or arabinose whichare linked as side chains to thepectin macromolecules andthe rupture of the main chaincaused by rhamnose providepectin with the characteristicsof a heteropolysaccharide.

Very frequently, however, neu-tral polysaccharides l ikegalactans, arabanes and

starch are also attendantmaterials of the isolatedpectin. The character ist iccomposition depends on theraw material.

Due to this structure, pectinacts l ike an adhesivesubstance within this structurewith important supporting andsolidifying functions and due

to its colloidal character andpronounced swelling proper -t ies i t controls the waterbalance in plants.

In the plant’s cell, the pectinmolecules are so tightly boundto other molecules of the cellwal l that they cannot beextracted with water. Thiswater insoluble form is calledprotopectin.

During the ripening of fruit orthe boil ing of vegetables,protopectin is converted intosoluble pectin.This process is reached inlarge-scale production by acidhydrolysis.

The reduction of the molecularweight during hydrolysis mayinterfere with the jellifyingproperties of pectin.Due to intensive research and

advanced technologies, wecareful ly and accuratelycontrol the extraction process,which permits us to producetop-quality pectins with opti-mal jellifying characteristics.

In order to pre-set thefunctions of the variouspectins, especial ly theirjellifying characteristics, we

profit from the latest results ofintensive research.In practical application, highmethoxyl pectins (HM pectins)and low methoxyl pectins (LMpectins) are used.High methoxyl pectins arethose which contain morethan 50% of ester if iedgalacturonic acid molecules;low methoxyl pectins containless than 50%.

These two differ greatly intheir gel l ing modes.Highmethoxyl pectins form gels inthe presence of sugar,acid and a dry solids contentof at least 55%.Low methoxyl pectins, on theother hand, may form gelswith bivalent cations and arerelat ively independent ofsugar and acid.

Nature Is The Raw Material Supplier

Pomace: 10 - 15%

sugar beet chips: 10 - 20%

sunflower-infructescence: 15 - 25%

Citrus peels: 20 - 35%

All vegetable raw materialswith a high pectin content

are suitable for the productionof pectin.This includes, among others,pomace or citrus fruit peels, butalso sugar beet chips, theresidue from the sugarproduction, or the thrashed-outinfructescences of sunflowers,from which pectin may beproduced. Sunflower pectin hasa higher molecular weight andlower degree of esterificationthan beet pectin. Both Pectinsare acetylized.

The various raw materials yielddifferent amounts ofextractable pectin:

Which of these raw materialsis used for the production ofClassic Pectins depends first ofal l on the specif ic re-

quirements the f inishedproduct will meet later on.Criteria for the selection ofraw materials are, forexample, the properties of theprotopectins, their molecularweight, the degree ofesterification with methanol oracetic acid, respectively, orsometimes the neutral sugarcontent.

It makes also sense, for certainspecial applications, to mix thevarious raw materials.The Combi Pectins achieved in

this way permit the productionof different pectin qualitieswith specif ic gel l ingcharacteristics.

Our company has for decadesenjoyed a worldwidereputation by producing top-quality apple pectins.These universally applicableproducts, which achievereliable results in all areas ofapplication, will continue tobe the focal point of ourproduct range in the future.

One of the main principles ofour company states that we

are constantly ready andwilling to react promptly to thecurrent wishes and ideas ofour customers.

We have been frequentlyapproached with the desireand thus respondedaccordingly to produce, forspecial appl icat ions, alsocitrus, sugar beet andamidated pectins besides thetraditional apple pectins.The Combi-, Instant- and In-stant-Plus Pectins completeour product range.

Based on many years ofexperience in the f ield ofapple pectins we are able tocontrol the specific extractionconditions and the overallprocesses for the productionof the different Pectins withthe highest degree ofaccuracy, thus meeting theexact specifications desiredfrom the finished product.

On heating, insoluble protopectincan be extracted from the cellwalls of plants by means of acidhydrolysis, and, as a result of this,soluble pectin is obtained. To geta maximum yield of pectin, it isabsolutely essential to ensure thatthere is optimal matching of thedifferent parameters involved inthe extraction process. The de-pectinized raw material willremain as a residue. During thesubsequent stages, the pectinextract will be clarified mech-anically and is concentrated in agentle process.This concentrated pectin-richsolution is used as a liquid gellingagent for the industrial as well asdomestic application and is thebasic material for the productionof A drum-dried „pectinextracts“, which are used in thefield of dietetics, and B for the fur-ther processing of liquid pectininto alcohol precipitated pectin.

Quality ContrQuality ContrQuality ContrQuality ContrQuality Contrololololol

Our control stations beingequipped with automated controlsystems, optimal processingconditions can be maintainedthroughout the productionprocess. To determine the quality,or grade, of our liquid pectins andof the dry pectin extracts, ourlaboratories will use the mostadvanced methods of analysiscurrently available.

Careful Quality Controls At AllStages Of The Production Process

Raw MaterialsRaw MaterialsRaw MaterialsRaw MaterialsRaw Materials StorageStorageStorageStorageStorage

Liquid Pectin - ObtainedLiquid Pectin - ObtainedLiquid Pectin - ObtainedLiquid Pectin - ObtainedLiquid Pectin - ObtainedThrThrThrThrThrough Extraction andough Extraction andough Extraction andough Extraction andough Extraction andConcentrationConcentrationConcentrationConcentrationConcentration

All processing stages, from the raw material level to thefinished product stage of the production of pectins

are assessed according HACCP-factors and covered by asystem of continuous checks, controls within a scope ofthe quality management system DIN EN ISO 9001, in orderto ensure that a uniform end product of high quality andsafety will be obtained.

Pomace still is, and will continueto be, raw material number onewith our company, for theproduction of our high qualityapple pectins. Citrus pectinsfollow on place two. Sugar-beetpectins as well as for experimen-tal purposes sunflower pectinsare newcomers to our productrange.

Raw materials of different sortsand grades are stored separatelyand in large quantities. Owing tothe huge storage capacitiesavailable to us at variouslocations, we are in a position tokeep up the production of pectinthroughout the year, indepen-dent of any harvest season. It isequally possible to mix preciselydefined blends of different typesof raw materials.

Careful selection of suppliers isthe first step on the way toensuring good quality of rawmaterial, which also involvesconstant supervision extendingfrom the cultivation level to theend of that processing stage,when the raw material is fit forstorage. Strict quality con-formance inspections ofincoming products, as well asregular supervision and regulartechnical training of suppliers,are integral parts of our safetyprecautions.

High quality standards must bemet by each and every rawmaterials to be taken on stock.Apart from the pectin contentof the material and its gellingproperties, residual moisture isalso a decisive factor in thisrespect. The quality of all rawmaterials kept in stock isckecked continuously through-out the storage period. The fi-nal test being performed at atime when commencement ofproduction is imminent, it ispossible to precisely determinethe quality of any raw materialto be processed.

Quality ContrQuality ContrQuality ContrQuality ContrQuality ControlololololQuality ContrQuality ContrQuality ContrQuality ContrQuality Contrololololol

De-esterificationAmidation

Precipitation Pressing, Drying,Grinding, Mixing,and Sieving

During further processing ofthe concentrated liquid

pectin, pH-value andtemperature must bemaintained at preciselycontrolled levels. During thatstage, some methoxyl groups,as well as some of the glycosidiclinkages of the neutral sugarside chains, will continuouslyseparate from the pectinmolecules. As soon as thedesired degree of esterificationis attained, alcohol will be usedto precipitate the pectin.Another possibility ofdeeserification is the amidationin alcoholic suspension.Herewith it will be deesterifiedand amidated by usingammonia. During thisamidation a part of ester groupswill exchanged with amidgroups. In this case the gellingproperties will changedcompared with the sourdeesterified pectins.


Fulfillment of given process-conditions, as well as the degreeof esterification and degreeof amidation is monitoredconstantly throughout thatprocessing stage.

Pectin is insoluble in alcohol -and it is this particular qualityof pectin that, at this processingstage, is utilized for precipitationpurposes. By means of a specialtreatment involving the use ofalcohol as a precipitating agent,the pectin can be separatedfrom its aqueous solution andpurified by washing. Thepercentage of alcohol presentin this step determines theconditions of the precipitationprocess and has an effect on theyield and on the purity of thepectin. After having beendistilled, the pure alcohol will bebrought back into theprecipitation cycle.


The percentage of alcohol ismonitored constantly during theprecipitation process.

The pure pectin obtained fromthe precipitation process ispressed out and gently dried. Atthis stage, its texture is quitecoarse. By using grinding as wellas sifting plants, the pectin isnow carefully ground to ahomogeneous powder of equalgranular size and mixed.


This processing stage ismonitored constantly to ensurethat the tolerance limits for re-sidual moisture and/or residualalcohol will not be exceeded.Sieve analysis are used todetermine whether or not thedesired equal granular size hasbeen attained.

Lab-examination,Standardization

By-product:Colouring and Non-Colouring Sweetener

By-product:Fodder

Depending on the specificapplication, pectins must be

standardized in order to be ableto meet varying requirementswith respect to their gelling andthickening properties.Depending on the specificrequirements to be met, thedesired result can be obtainedfrom the addition of sugars and/or buffer salts or from blendingdifferent sorts of uniformpectins.For precise determination of thegelling properties, theHerbstreith-Pektinometer, theUSA-Sag method as well asrheometers are used.


In order to ensure the realizationof a uniform quality standard,compliance with standardi-zation instructions is con-tinuously checked anddocumented.Furthermore, applicationtechnology will be utilized totest each recipe determined, soas to ensure that allrequirements defined by thecustomer will be fully met.Each lot of pectin produced byour company will be tested forcompliance with purity criteriaas laid down in the laws andregulations relating to food anddrugs and each lot will also beassigned a lot number.

After the alcohol used forprecipitation of pectin has beendistilled off, sugar, fruit acids,natural colouring agents, andnatural flavours will remain.Those fruit extracts which havebeen obtained from theprocessing of the respective rawmaterial such as, for example,apple extract obtained frompomace (Herbarom), will be usedby the food industry assweetening agents for thepreservation of freshness and/ orcolouring of food. A furtherpossibility is its fermentation toapple ethanol.

At a further processing stage,special technologies are used toremove dark natural colouringagents, mineral substances, andfruit acids from these fruitextracts. The resulting products(Herbasweet) will only containthe sugars of the respective rawmaterial that has been processedand are used through out thefood industy as sweeteningagents.


As the fruit extracts are examinedvery closely, they will fulfill anypurity criteria and micribiologicalstandards laid down in the lawsand regulations relating to foodand drugs. Here, too, iscontinuous supervision of thefulfillment of the quality criterialaid down in the product

specifications.The various types of rawmaterial, free from pectin bynow, are dried and pressed intopellets. Due to their high energycontent and high nutritivevalue, these residues are quite

in demand as fodder.


The residual moisture and thefodder value of these productsare checked continuously so asto ensure that good products ofuniform quality will beobtained.

from which you may take furt-her information on our productrange and the application areas.

Pectin à la carte: Whether fastor slow gelation, firm orpasteous consistency, thixo-tropic or pseudo-plasticbehaviour – no matter whatkind of property you ask for, we

can offer today a product rangewhich is capable of fulfilling thedemands on the pectin market.

And that is not all: For ourtechnical service it alwaysproves to be a welcomechallenge to develop newspeciality pectins for newapplication areas and to testthem.

Our Answer To The Needs Of The Market

Sugar-beet pectin

Citrus pectin

Apple pectin

Herbstreith & Fox presents itself as supplier of acomplete pectin range. Thecustomer may choose from

• apple pectin• citrus pectin• grapefruit pectin• beet pectin• sunflower pectin

in every possible degree ofesterification classified as

• high-methoxyl• medium-methoxyl• low-methoxyl• low-methoxyl amidated• pectin acid

as pure

• Classic Pectins

or as co-extracted

• Combi Pectins

or with improved dispersabilityas

• Instant Pectin

or with cold soluble propertiesas

• Instant Plus Pectin.

And for dietary applications aspure pectins in the viscosityrange

• high viscous• medium viscous• low viscous• extremely low viscous.

All products are standardizedaccording to the individualrequirements of the customers.

Our ”Pectin Report”, which willbe sent to you on request, givesan overview on the completerange and the diversity of ourpectin range.

The regularly updated referencebook gives the customerproduct information andapplication technical advice.Detailed information on theapplication of the H&F pectincan be found in our brochure:”H&F – The Specialists forPectin”, or in the Internet.We would also like to point outour homepage ”The Products”,

above: liquid chromatography; below: research and development

established standards, l ikethe USA-Sag-method todetermine the jelly grade ofpectins.

This interact ion betweenhighly qualified expert staffand the most modernlaboratory technology resultsin new research expertise withpromising perspectives fornew forms of application.

All our efforts in research anddevelopment are indispensibleservices for our customers,who can turn to us with everyproblem and question and willbe helped by our qualifiedexperts through individual,personal and fr iendlyconsulting.

Breaking strength measurement

USA-Sag-method

Rheometer

Qualified ResearchFor Tomorrow`s Challenge

Intensive research is the mostimportant prerequisite for

the full exploitation of thepresent and future applicationpotential for using Pectins.Research and developmenthave always by tradit ionranked uppermost in theactivity list of Herbstreith &Fox.

A highly qualified team ofscientists studies every daynew possibilities for the furt-her development of newtypes of pectins - not only inthe classical pectin area in thefood industry, but increasinglyin such f ields as dietet icproducts, pharmaceutical andnonfood application.

Our food technologists andfood technicians, chemicalengineers and other specialistsconstantly face the challengeof finding new applicationoriented solutions to solveproblems and to improvecontinuously methods ofstandardization.

In close cooperation withvarious scientific institutes weare constantly on the lookoutfor new applications in themedical and technical field.

Numerous publications arewitness of the impressiveresults we have achieved inour studies of the manyapplication possibilities andfunctional propert ies ofpectins.

Another solid foundation forthe long-term succes of ourcompany is laid with the in-tensive continued develop-ment of our assays andmonitoring methods.

We are, for example, workingto make our analyt icalmethods more perfect, such asHPLC and gas chromato-graphy, which yield a closer in-s ight into the molecularstructure and the gel l ingproperties of pectins.

State-of-the-art rheologicalmethods, e.g. osci l lat ingrheometer, penetration mea-surements and the deter-mination of the breakingstrength by the Herbstreith-Pektinometer are used todevelop and to improve in-house control processes tomeasure and to describe thegel l ing and thickeningproperties of pectins. Togetherwith novel developments weuse, of course, also the

Above: Pectin plant in Neuenbürg; below: Pectin plant in Werder

At present, two differentlocations are used by the

Corporate Group Herbstreith &Fox for the production of theirhigh quality pectins that areknown all over the world: atNeuenbürg/Württemberg andat Werder/ Brandenburg.

The Group’s headquarters issituated at the pectinproduction plant of Neuenbürg,in the northern part of the BlackForest, which location has alsobeen - since 1938 - the originalheadquaters of the firm. Witha staff of 150, this location isalso used as a kind of ”centralliaison office” for all othercompanies of the Group. It ishere that all sales and

worldwide distribution ofpectins are handled and it is alsohere, in our central laboratorythat our research anddevelopment work is done.To obtain the whole pectinrange of good and uniformquality, we have been usinghere, at Neuenbürg, the mostadvanced production equip-ment, thus arriving at thehighest possible level oftechnology currently attainable.Strict quality controls areperformed at all stages of theproduction process.

One Step Ahead Of Others -Due To Most Advanced Technology And Management

Evaporater

Power-plant

Blending station

Production, which, for thegreater part has beenautomated, is maintained for 24hours on end, day after day, andis supervised and controlledfrom all stages by means ofcontrol systems speciallydesigned for this plant. Priorto their installation, allcomponents of our plant havebeen tested in pilot plants, inorder to make sure that they willbe fit for continuous operationin industrial environments.

Owing to the automatedoperation cycle, we can now doall the routine cleaning work,which is to be done at regularintervals, by simply pressing abutton, whereas, in the past,there was considerableexpenditure of work involved inthose cleaning processes for theduration of which the wholeproduction had to be stopped.

All components of the plant aremonitored and all operationsare supervised by qualifiedpersonnel from the centralcontrol stations. All essentialparameters, for production are,at regular intervals, determinedfrom here and subsequentlyanalyzed. The resulting data willthen, in turn, be used forautomatic regulation of theproduction process.

Since 1990, the pectinproduction plant of Werder, hasbeen a member of our Group.It was in the year of thereunification of Germany thatwe desided to act consistentlyand to stand up to a challenge:acquisition an restructuring ofthe former VEB pectinproduction plant of Werder /Brandenburg.

Due to an important volume ofinvestment, the plant wasmodernized from top to bottomand was fully equipped with themost advanced productiontechnology available, and,therefore, it was possible to startproduction on a high level,using the know-how ofNeuenbürg, only one year later.

Qualified research, mostadvanced methods ofproduction, functional design ofworkplaces, and strict qualitycontrols – over the pastdecades, all of these factorswere important in ourcompany’s success.

In addition to that, there is awell- organized distributionnetwork ensuring reliabledeliveries of our products – toany place in the world.

Exemplary In The FieldOf Environmental Protection

Every year, the producers offruit juices have to cope

with giant quantit ies ofwet pomace. If those largequantities were disposed of ata waste dumping ground or ata waste incinerating plant, thiswould not only be costly butalso harmful to theenvironment. The recyclingmethods avai lable toproducers of fruit juices, i.e.either compost preparation orfurther processing into fodder,would both be very costly forthem and involve considerableexpenditure of work.

The wet pomace, which is aresidue for the producers offruit juices, is , for us, avaluable raw material.

Any further processing of such”residues” into pectins of highquality is not only an excellentsolution from the commercialpoint of view, but also fulfillsall requirements as to realizingenvironmentally acceptableproduction cycles – the moreso, as we will pocess the resi-dual matter, left as a result ofpectin production, into fodderand, as a consequence of this,”recycle” it to nature in theend.

Our anti-pol lut ion powerconsumption policy is equallyexemplary. At Neuenbürg, forexample, we own a power

plant running on low-pollutionnatural gas, which, workingon the principle of combinedheat and power generation,ensures that an optimaldegree of energy utilization isattained. All electricity neededfor production is generated bya high-pressure steamgenerator topped by a turbine.

Advantages: There are nolosses of energy on account oflong-distance feeding pipesand the generation of energycan always be adjusted to theactual level of energyconsumption. In addition tothat, the hot outgoing air ofthe high-pressure steamgenerator is used in drum-drying of depectinized rawmaterial, and, due to the exactlayout of the process watercircuit and to specialtreatments al lowing re-utilization of water, therehave been no problems at allwith waste water.At the pectin production plantof Werder, too, top priority willbe given to al l and anypossibilites available to us andthat will help us to meet anyreasonable standards of envi-ronmental protection.

In the end, ecologicalawareness also means thatproduction plants must beadapted to their respectivelocations. As high-grade

building and sound insulationmaterials has been installed inboth plants, those productionplants will, even in the vicinityof residential areas, cause noproblem whatsoever.

By means of al l thesemeasures, our company hasgiven dist inct ive andimportant examples of howeffective protection of both,man and nature, can beachieved. The natural productpectin, the low-pol lut iontechnologies used inproduction and theecologically sensible utilizationof residues are exemplary forresponsible environmentalprotection.

Promising Perspectives

Pectins from Herbstreith & Fox have been, for manydecades, well-known through-out the world. Innovativethinking and far-sightedresearch policy have, onnumerous occasions, enabledus, assisted by a team of emi-nent experts, to realize veryquickly many decisive ideas.

Continuous improvement ofproduction technologies as wellas high standard of quality have,to a considerable extent,contributed to the success wepresently have in the worldmarket.

However, the tasks and thechallenges will continue togrow. On the worldwide marketfor the natural product pectin,annual growth rates of 3 to 5per cent have been recorded.

Since the beginning of theeighties, we have consistentlyincreased our capacities forproduction and for storage andboth in Germany and abroad,and this policy is proof of thefact that we are also preparedto face any future challengeswith determination and self-confidence.

There is, however, one principlefrom our company’s richtradition, which we would liketo keep up for the future: It isthe human being that is thecentre of all our efforts andservices.

Our customers, present andfuture ones, shall be able to relyon our promise that ourqualified staff in technicalservice and sales, in researchand development, inproduction, in administration,and in the management – willalways do their very best tosupport them.

Thus, there are promisingperspectives for you, too.

Naturprodukt mod 1 - Herbstreith & Fox in fruit juices some 200 years ago. At that time, ......

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