As a serious jam-maker and health worker, I am intrigued by the ability of pectin to remove lead from the body. In making jam, pectin is what makes fruit set (or jell). Most jam made with fruit that is low in pectin has added lemon juice or apple for extra pectin. Home-made jam tends to taste better because it is often made with fresh home grown fruit and does not include fillers such as melon, apple or pear to bulk it out.

Home-made marmalade usually includes more peel (more flavour and more pectin) than commercial varieties. More unusual marmalades I have made include kaffir lime (very tart), rangpur lime, blood orange, tangelo, kalomandin, chinotto cumquat and clementine (a cross between an orange, pomelo and mediterranean citrus.

I also make my own pectin from lemon seeds and pulp after squeezing the lemons. I stand the seed and pithy pulp in water for a couple of days. Then I heat till boiling and strain off the liquid in a sieve, and dilute the seeds with boiling water a second time to make sure I get it all. Seedy citrus provide the best pectin eg kaffir limes, cumquats and meyer lemons