A cooking question.

[charlz_lynn]

Pectin. How do you feel about it? Is it something one should use, or is it somehow weird/icky/gross/wrong/etc?
I am researching it because Mara and I just picked a shitload of blackberries and are going to make jam tomorrow. Berries and sugar only, or is it worth it to use this stuff?

here's what wikipedia says:

...is a heteropolysaccharide derived from the cell wall of higher terrestrial plants.    
....

Naturally, pectin in the form of complex, insoluble protopectin is part of the non-woody parts of terrestrial plants. In the middle lamella between plant cells, pectin helps to bind cells together and regulates water in the plant.

The amount, structure and chemical composition of the pectin differs between plants, within a plant over time and in different parts of a plant. Tough parts contain more pectin than soft parts of a plant. During ripening, pectin is broken down by the enzymespectinase and pectinesterase; in this process the fruit becomes softer as the cell walls break down.

Pectin is a natural part of human diet, but does not contribute significantly to nutrition. The daily intake of pectin from fruit and vegetables can be estimated to be around 5 g (assuming consumption of approximately 500 g fruit and vegetable per day).

In human digestion, pectin passes through the small intestine more or less intact. In the large intestine and colon, microorganisms degrade pectin and liberate short-chain fatty acids that have positive influence on health (prebiotic effect). Pectin is thus a soluble dietary fiber.

Consumption of pectin has been shown to reduce blood cholesterol levels. The mechanism appears to be an increase of viscosity in the intestinal tract, leading to a reduced absorption of cholesterol from bile or food.^[3]

and on and on...
What do you think?

Comments

[lovelikeyeast.livejournal.com]

Pectin's found naturally in so many fruits. Plum/paste tomatoes, peaches, apricots and plums have a lot of it. Blackberries, very little. It will surely be delicious w/o any added, but if you like a good thick spread, why not? It will mean having to cook it down a lot less. Otherwise, you cook and cook the water off and it gets a different (more stewed, less fresh) flavor.

Those are my thoughts!

[mightyjo.livejournal.com]

Well...my partner says to tell you that if you don't use it, you're likely to end up with blackberry syrup, instead of jam. That's what happened to us when we picked tons of blackberries a couple of years ago, and she taught me how to make jam. Half turned into jam...the other half was syrup...and don't think we didn't go ahead and give it as gifts, anyway! Wow - homemade blackberry syrup! People truly dug it!

But, seriously, pectin is a naturally-occurring food product...it's a dietary fiber...all good.

And be sure and let us know how it turned out! Yummmm...

[notyourmama2.livejournal.com]

Commercial pectin often comes from apples, so it's not some icky chemical thing. Conversely, though, you could grate an apple and throw it in...would do the same thing, only not as fast.

[sugarmommaless.livejournal.com]

I've made blueberry jam like that. The recipe told me how.

[amy-puma.livejournal.com]

Pectin is totally fine and is found in a million fruits. No worries. The info you posted is correct.

[laxlady4.livejournal.com]

i use commercial pectin to make my jam. if you feel kind of icky about it, it's possible to boil down your own from green apple skins. you can find a recipe/directions online.

the trick is to not double boil jam. don't be tricked into making the jam, putting it into the jars and boiling again. when you double boil you mess up the taste and texture. you can wax the jam (hot parafin wax on top of hot jam in jars making sure there are no bubbles) or just put tops on (hot so that the gummy stuff is softened) and they'll seal themselves.

[sugarmommaless.livejournal.com]

I think that pectin is considered to be soothing to the digestive system, and an absorber of toxins.
... but that's just off the top of my head.

Using pectin is easy, and it only costs like $2. I say throw caution to the wind and use it without worry.