Chapter 6:Gum Arabic and other Exudate Gums

Natural exudate gums such as gum acacia, tragacanth and karaya have been used in food, pharmaceutical and medicine, mainly as bulking agents, adhesives and for emulsifying oily preparations and beverages. Recently, the structural properties responsible for these functionalities have been elucidated, enabling a more extensive and quantitative application. These natural products have, in the past, been used without detailed chemical and physical characterisation. Now the regulatory requirements have become more stringent and are described in the paper.