Jelly Beans

Common Flavors

 Grape - grape 

 Pink - Strawberry 

 Clear or White - Pineapple 

 Light Red - Watermelon

 Red - Cherry

 Orange - Orange 

Yellow - Lemon 

 Green - Lime 

Jelly Beans made with Pectin (compared to starch) are arguably the best Jelly Beans. Pectin is produced commercially as a white to light brown powder, mainly extracted from citrus fruits and apples, and is used in food as a gelling agent, particularly in jams and jellies. Pectin is also used in fillings, medicines, sweets, as a stabilizer in fruit juices and milk drinks, and as a source of dietary fiber.

Functionally, Pectin works well as a flavor releaser.

In medicine, pectin increases viscosity and volume of stool so that it is used against constipation and diarrhea. Until 2002, it was one of the main ingredients used in Kaopectate -- medication used to combat diarrhea, along with kaolinite. Pectin has been used in gentle heavy metal removal from biological systems.

Pectin is also used in throat lozenges as a demulcent -- an agent that supposedly forms a soothing film over a mucous membrane, relieving minor pain and inflammation of the membrane. Demulcents are sometimes referred to as mucoprotective agents. Demulcents, including pectin, glycerin, honey, and syrup are common ingredients in cough mixtures and cough drops

In the United States, pectin is GRAS – generally recognized as safe. In most foods it can be used according to good manufacturing practices in the levels needed for its application ("quantum satis").

Pectin is a structural heteropolysaccharide contained in the primary cell walls of terrestrial plants. Pectin was first isolated and described in 1825 by Henri Braconnot.