In this work, the effect of the process conditions used for the separately drying of milled albedo and flavedo on the chemical characteristics of the pectins extracted in a second step from 'Pera' sweet orange (Citrus sinensis L. Osbeck) by using citric acid were studied. The highest yield value obtained was 38.21% w/w for dried albedo (Pectin-A) at 70 degrees C and 0.1 m s(-1) of air velocity. The analyses of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) shows that both Pectin-A and Pectin-F (Flavedo) are characterized as high methoxyl pectin (HM) (DE > 50%). The pectin was assessed for its molecular weight (MW) by the technique of gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and the results of MW varied between 337.41-606.85 kDa for Pectin-A and 487.92-1702.00 kDa for Pectin-F. The quality of pectin, determined by the galacturonic acid (AGA), has the highest value of 93.64% for Pectin-A. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.