Glossary · Chemistry
Pectic enzyme
Also written pectinase, pectolytic enzyme. Each is a name for the same thing, which is why none of them has an entry of its own.
Definition
A commercial enzyme preparation, usually fungal, that depolymerises pectin so that juice clarifies, presses more freely and yields more.
- Subject
- Chemistry
- Also written
- pectinase, pectolytic enzyme
In more detail
Pectinase is added to pomace to raise yield, to juice to clear it before fermentation, and to finished cider to correct a pectin haze. It is incompatible with keeving, which needs the pectin intact to form its gel, so the two techniques cannot be used on the same batch.
Where this is covered properly
The glossary defines; these pages explain. Each is described in its own words.
Production
Pectinase treatment
Adding pectin-degrading enzyme preparations to juice so that haze-forming and viscosity-forming pectin is broken down before fermentation.
Production
Enzyme addition to pomace
Dosing pectin-degrading enzyme into milled pomace rather than into juice, to raise press yield and change how the cake drains.
Related terms
Terms that belong to the same part of the subject, or that this one is routinely confused with.
Chemistry
Pectin
A structural polysaccharide of fruit cell walls, released into juice during milling and pressing. It thickens juice, holds haze in suspension and is the raw material of the keeving cap.
Faults
Pectin haze
A persistent, fine haze caused by pectin remaining in suspension. It does not settle, does not respond to fining and is cleared only by pectolytic enzyme.
Fermentation
Keeving
A pre-fermentation clarification in which pectin in the juice is gelled into a floating brown cap, taking nutrients and yeast with it, so that the clear juice drawn from beneath ferments slowly and stops with sugar remaining.
Milling and pressing
Pressing yield
The proportion of fruit weight recovered as juice, usually expressed as litres per tonne or as a percentage. It depends on the fruit, the mill setting, the press type and the pressure profile.
Fermentation
Filtration
Passing cider through a porous medium to remove suspended solids, yeast and haze. Coarse filtration polishes appearance; fine filtration approaches microbiological stability.
Where to go next
- Cider glossary — The whole vocabulary, by subject and A–Z.
- Comparisons — Terms that are only really clear when set against the thing they are not.
- Search — Finds terms by their aliases and by their spellings in other languages.
Sources
What this page rests on. Where a source is marked as registered rather than read, CiderHQ is recording that the body is authoritative on the subject without claiming to have worked through the document itself. See our evidence policy for what each state means.
Hochschule Geisenheim University — beverage technology
Hochschule Geisenheim · university · retrieved 2026-08-24
German beverage-technology research covering apple wine and fruit juice processing, including the enzymology of clarification.
Cider and perry production technical training material
Peter Mitchell / Cider and Perry Academy · reference work · registered as competent for this subject
Searched again on 2026-08-25 and it remains the one printed source here that a bibliographic check cannot fix, because it is not a published work with an edition. It is course material issued to participants of a training programme, so there is no catalogue record to verify, no ISBN, and no lawful public copy. Its state stays `registered` for that reason rather than through inattention.