Apple Pectin Benefits and Information
As a dietary fiber, apple pectin is helpful in maintaining good digestive health. Fruits rich in apple pectin include the peach, apple, currant, and plum. Protopectin, present in unripe fruits, is converted to pectin as the fruit ripens. Pectin forms a colloidal solution in water and gels on cooling. When fruits are cooked with the correct amount of sugar, and when the acidity is optimum and the amount of pectin present is sufficient, jams and jellies can be made. In overripe fruits, the pectin becomes pectic acid, which does not form jelly with sugar solutions.
An indigestible, soluble fiber, apple pectin is a general intestinal regulator that is used in many medicinal preparations, especially as an anti-diarrhea agent. Our ancestors believed the old proverb an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Today, nutritional scientists research for evidences that verify how apples are good for our health. Apples are rich in pectin, a soluble fiber, which is effective in lowering cholesterol levels.
Researchers at the University of California, Davis, found that apple pectin also acts as an antioxidant against the damaging portion of cholesterol in the blood stream. Many researchers suggest that people who eat fatty foods should, if possible, wash down this food with apple juice rather than the usual drink. Researchers have found that raw apples are the richest of fruits in pectin, with the jonagold variety of apple leading other varieties.
It has been established that a diet rich in apple pectin may help protect against certain diseases. Research in Japan supports that apple pectin can also decrease the chances of colon cancer. Apple pectin helps maintain intestinal balance by cleansing the intestinal tract with its soluble and insoluble fibers. Apple pectin tends to increase acidity in the large intestines and is advocated for those suffering from ulcer or colitis and for regulating blood pressure. Pectin is also effective in causing regressions in and preventing gallstones. There is also evidence that the regular use of apple pectin may lessen the severity of diabetes.