2.5.3. Nanostructural characterisation of SSP
Atomic force microscopy (TT-AFM, AFM workshop, Signal Hill, CA, USA) was used to perform nanostructural analysis of pectin. Sample was subject to appropriate dilution and 10 ml of sample was pipetted on a freshly cleaved mica sheets and dried by using a rubber suction ball. The imaging condition was set as vibrating mode, scan rate of 0.4 Hz and scan lines of 128e512. NSC 11/no Al tips with resonance of 145e240kHz and force constantof 25e95 N/m were used . AFM images were analysed offline by using Gwyddion software (AFM workshop). Qualitative information was obtained through identi-
fication of pectin characteristics from AFM images, such as branch chains, aggregates and others. Quantitative data were obtained by
sectional analysis on length, height and width of pectin chains from
images using the software .