Acacia gums

Gum acacia gum tragacanth (a similar gum) gum karaya (also a similar gum) gum ghatti (also a similar gum)... 

Gum arabic (gum acacia) is used as the lickable glue on stamps and envelopes, and as a flavor stabilizer (emulsifier) in soft drinks. It has components that bind to water, and components that bind to oils, making it an emulsifier but not a surfactant (because of the high molecular weight). 

Cherry and Crandall in 1932 (86) used olive oil as substrate with gum acacia as the emufsTfier. This method has served as the basis for a number of modifications that increased the stability of the emulsion, decreased incubation time and gave better precision. When a serum sample is incubated with a stabilized olive oil emulsion, lipase acts at the interface of substrate and water to hydrolyze olive oil into fatty acid plus diglycerides, and to a small extent to monoglycerides and glycerol. The bile salt sodium deoxycholate activates the reaction. These methods measure the liberated fatty acids by titration with a standardized NaOH solution. An indicator such as phenolphatalein, thymolphthalein or methyl red or a pH meter are used to detect the end point. 

Natural Plant Tree and shrub exudates Karaya gum Tragacanth gum Gum acacia... 

The regulations prescribe the energy values to be used as in Table 3. There are agreed values for some other materials. The synthetic dextrose polymer poly dextrose is accepted to be only 1 kcal g 1 (or 4 kJ g 1) even though it would otherwise fall within the definition of a carbohydrate. The accepted value for gum acacia, a polysaccharide obtained from trees of the species Acacia Senegal and closely related species, is 2 kcal g 1 (or 8 kJ g-1). 

Gum acacia is a unique polysaccharide, with some peptides as part of the structure and has a range of different uses. It was originally the gum in gum sweets although some gum sweets do contain modified starch as a substitute. The replacement of gum is not because the substitute performs better but because there have been supply problems with gum acacia. Gum acacia is likely to be encountered in bakeries in small quantities when it has been used to make emulsions of citrus oils as a bakery flavour. It is possible to use gum acacia in making dry flavours from oils such as citrus by making an emulsion and then spray drying it. 

There is a need to have a testing regime to ensure that the gum acacia offered is gum acacia and not a product from some other species that is unsuitable. Acacia Seyal gum is sometimes encountered, which is less soluble than gum acacia and hence it is unsuitable for making sweets with a high proportion of gum acacia as it will not dissolve sufficiently. Instances have occurred where gum combretum, a product that is not an acacia gum, has been found in commercial supplies purporting to be gum acacia. 

Some gum users now take gum in a pre-prepared form. Spray dried gum acacia has been used in pharmaceutical products for some time. The spray dried gum offers the pharmaceutical manufacturer a clean ready to use product. Instant forms of gum acacia have been offered by suppliers for some time. The instant products can be rapidly made into solution and used. Obviously the instant gum is more expensive. A manufacturer that uses gum as a minor ingredient may well find that the capital and labour cost of purifying raw gum is not cost effective. A company that uses gum acacia as a major ingredient might come to a different conclusion. Instantised gums pose different problems to the analytical chemist.. One approach that can be used is to have an optical rotation specification for the product. Even this approach is not entirely proof against a material that contains a blend of gums of different optical rotation. 

Non-gelling Starches. These products are intended for uses where the starch replaces a gum like gum acacia. A typical product for this use might be an oxidised waxy maize starch. 

A solution that has been made to work is to use various polysaccharides. Examples are the bacterial gum xanthan gum, carob gum, guar gum and gum acacia. 

Carob gum, guar gum and gum acacia have the advantage of being natural. As gum acacia gives a lower viscosity than the other gums more has to be used. However, as this gum is more soluble it is possible to use more. 

The widely used preparations are gum acacia and tragacanth. vi. Tannins are nonnitrogenous constituents of plant. Chemically they are phenolic derivatives and are characterized by their astringent action. Tannins are generally employed in the treatment of diarrhoea and burns. The important plants which contains tannins are Amla, Behera, Hirda (in combination form Triphala ), Black catechu and Ashoka bark. 

Emulsions are suspensions of fats or oils in water with the inclusion of an suitable emulsifying agent (e.g. gum acacia, gum tragacanth) e.g. Castor oil emulsion. Cod liver oil emulsion for internal use. One such emulsion is also used externally e.g. benzyl benzoate emulsion. 

Carbomer, carmellose, microcrystalline cellulose, sodium carboxymethylcellulose, povidone, sodium alginate, tragacanth, and xanthan gum Acacia and methylcellulose, glycerol esters, polysorbates and sorbitan esters, fatty acids, sodium stearate, carbomer Macrogol esters, polyvinyl alcohol, and glycerides... 

One of the primary variables which influences the recoveries of volatile flavor and aroma chemicals during spray drying is the wall material. Utilization of spray dried flavors in food systems presents further constraints on the wall material selection process. Of the food grade polymers available to the manufacturer of spray dried flavorings (i.e., gum acacia, lipophilic starches, maltodextrins, corn syrup solids), no single wall material exhibits the ideal traits deemed necessary for this economically important process. 

Gum acacia, a natural plant exudate polysaccharide, has historically been used as the wall material of choice. Due to fluctuations in availability and increasing costs of this natural polymer, alternate choices have been examined (9), Worth noting at this point is the 1.5% to 3% protein content associated with this polysaccharide (20). 

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