Pectine

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A variant spelling for pectin, the gelling carbohydrate found in the cell walls of ripe fruit and used to set jams
2. An alternative form of pectin, the soluble fiber in plant cell walls that thickens jellies and preserves
3. Another spelling of pectin, a natural gel-forming substance extracted from apples and citrus peel for cooking

Etymology: Pectin is the gel-forming substance that makes jam set, and its name comes from a curdling process. In ancient Greek, "pēgnumi" meant "to stiffen" or "fix firmly", and the adjective "pēktikos" meant "curdling", the quality that turns milk into a solid mass. Chemists in the early nineteenth century borrowed that root to name a substance they had found in fruit. The key step came in the 1830s, when the French chemist Henri Braconnot isolated a substance from plant tissue that formed a jelly. He named the acid responsible "acide pectique", and the related substance took the form "pectine" in French. The term passed into English as "pectine" before the shorter "pectin" became the standard form.

Synonyms: pecten