Pectin is a natural polysaccharide, having valuable properties that enable its use in many industrial fields.
The aim of this work was to study the impact of pectin modification with phenols, on the properties of
this biopolymer. Results suggested that the enzymatic grafting of ferulic acid (FA) oxidation products
onto the pectin altered its morphological surface and its thermal properties. Moreover, modified pectin
showed a less hygroscopic behavior when water activity is less than 0.50 and a higher ability to bound
water above 0.5. Additionally, modified pectin became less viscous than the native pectin and presented
different calcium-dependent gelation behavior. Finally, a significant improvement of the antioxidant
properties of pectin after functionalization was observed. As a conclusion, the modification of pectin with
phenolic compounds appeared as a promising way to produce a polysaccharide with new properties that
could enlarge the field of its potential applications.