Pectins are polysaccharides that have high technological functionality in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Alternative sources have been studied due to the growing interest in obtaining pectins with different properties. In this context, jabuticaba (Plinia cauliflora) should be considered for presenting polysaccharides in its cell wall, especially pectin. The objective of this work was to optimize and model the extraction of pectin contained in jabuticaba peel, evaluating the influence of pH, time and temperature of extraction on the yield and content of galacturonic acid (TAG) of the obtained extracts and to characterize the pectin extracted under the optimized conditions. The Box-Behnker design was used to evaluate the effect of pH (1.2,3), time (20, 30, 40 min) and extraction temperature (70, 80, 90 °C) on the yield and TAG of extracted pectin with nitric acid (1M). TAG was obtained by spectrophotometry and the degree of esterification (GE) was determined by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The extraction yield varied between 3.20 and 10.60% and increased, within the levels studied, under conditions of low pH and higher levels of time and temperature. A longer contact time, high temperature and acidic environment favor cell wall hydrolysis. The TAG ranged between 2.25 and 56.77% and increased under high pH and time conditions and reaching a maximum peak at a temperature close to 80 °C, demonstrating that very high temperatures and very acidic environment affect the quality of the extracted pectin. The optimized conditions for extraction were pH 1, time of 20 min and temperature of 90 °C, resulting in a yield of 10.51%, TAG of 35.66% and GE of 53.04% (high esterification content). Jabuticaba showed promise for pectin extraction, with yield, galacturonic acid content and degree of esterification similar to other alternative sources.