Relationship between molecular weights of pectin and hypocholesterolemic effects in rats.

Hypocholesterolemic activities and other properties of three different molecular weight pectin were examined. The low-molecular-weight pectin (M(r) not equal to 66,000) obtained by decomposition of original pectin (M(r) not equal to 750,000) had the properties of low viscosity and high solubility, but it lost hypocholesterolemic activities in rats. On the other hand, the medium-molecular-weight pectin (M(r) not equal to 185,000) had characteristics of both low viscosity and hypocholesterolemic activities.