Recently， the demand for dietary fiber with improved prebiotic properties is increasing. Pectin is the main source of soluble dietary fiber， which is relatively stable in gastrointestinal digestion stage. Its prebiotic effect depends on the usage of intestinal flora and the production of beneficial metabolites. Pectin is plant-derived heteropolysaccharide with the most complex structure， and confirming how the multi-scale structure characteristics of pectin that affects the intestinal fermentation behavior of the host is prerequisite for understanding its prebiotic effects. The present article reviewed the progress on the structure-activity relationship between bacterial fermentability and pectin structural characteristics， including structural properties such as esterification degree， molecular weight， and neutral sugar composition， etc. Besides， the existing problems and futures on this area were analyzed with the purpose of providing reference for basic research and application of pectin.