Pectin is a naturally occurring biopolymer that is finding increasing applications in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. It has been used successfully for many years in the food and beverage industry as a thickening agent, a gelling agent and a colloidal stabilizer. Pectin also has several unique properties that have enabled it to be used as a matrix for the entrapment and/or delivery of a variety of drugs, proteins and cells. Pectin is an essentially linear polysaccharide. The structure of pectin consists mainly