Modified sugar beet pectin and method for using the same

1. Modified sugar beet pectin comprising a water-insoluble component, the water-insoluble component absorbing water to form a hydrogel, when the modified sugar beet pectin is dispersed in water at 25° C. to a final concentration of 0.1 mass %,

wherein the modified sugar beet pectin has a volume median particle diameter of 1 to 30 μm, as measured in the form of a 0.003 mass % aqueous dispersion thereof using a laser diffraction light-scattering particle size analyzer,

wherein the modified sugar beet pectin has a weight average molecular weight of at least 6.5×10 5 g/mol, as determined by homogenizing a 1.5 mass % aqueous dispersion of the modified sugar beet pectin at a pressure of 50 MPa and subjecting the homogenized dispersion to size-exclusion chromatography coupled with a multi-angle light-scattering detector and a refractive index detector, and

wherein the modified sugar beet pectin has a root mean square radius of gyration of at least 50 nm, as determined by homogenizing a 1.5 mass % aqueous dispersion of the modified sugar beet pectin at a pressure of 50 MPa and subjecting the homogenized dispersion to size-exclusion chromatography coupled with a multi-angle light-scattering detector and a refractive index detector.

2. The modified sugar beet pectin according to claim 1 , which contains the water-insoluble component in an amount of at least 3 mass % and less than 90 mass %.

3. The modified sugar beet pectin according to claim 1 or 2 prepared by heating an aqueous dispersion of sugar beet pectin.