Commercially produced pectin is a white to light brown powder derived primarily from citrus fruits and used as a gelling agent in food products, particularly in jams and jellies. It is also used in fillings, candy, as a stabilizer in fruit juices and milk drinks, and as a source of dietary fiber.

1. Pectin, as a natural plant colloid, can be widely used in food industry as agelatinizer, stabilizer, tissue forming agent, emulsifier and thickener;Pectin is also a kind of water-soluble dietary fiber, because the molecular chains of pectin can form a "egg box" network structure with high valence metal ions, which makes pectin have a good adsorption function of heavy metals.

1. Pectin was first described by Henri Braconnot in 1825 but provide only poor quality pectin. In the 1920s and 1930s, factories were built and the quality of pectin get a great improve and later citrus-peel in regions that produced apple juice. It was sold as a liquid extract firstly, but now pectin is often used as dried powder that is easier to store and handle than a liquid.

1. Pectin is mainly used as a gelling agent, thickening agent and stabilizer in food. Because it increases viscosity and volume of stool so that it is used against constipation and diarrhea in medicine, and is also used in throat lozenges as a demulcent. Pectin has been considered an excellent substitute for vegetable glue and many cigar smokers and collectors will use pectin for repairing damaged tobacco wrapper leaves on their cigars in the cigar industry.