Natural gum

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Revision as of 20:43, 26 January 2020 by Mabus (Talk | contribs) (Examples)

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Natural gums are polysaccharides of natural origin, capable of causing a large increase the viscosity of a solution, even at small concentrations.

General

Natural gums are mostly botanical gums, found in the woody elements of various plants or in seed coatings, similar to resins.

They are soluble in water, but insoluble in many organic solvents.

Examples

  • Agar (extracted from seaweeds)
  • Gum arabic (extracted from the hardened sap of acacia tree)
  • Xanthan gum (produced by bacterial fermentation)

Availability

Natural gums can be either extracted from the plants that produce them or just bought from food stores.

Uses

Natural gums are used in the food industry as thickening agents, gelling agents, emulsifying agents, and stabilizers, and in other industries as adhesives, binding agents, crystal inhibitors, clarifying agents, encapsulating agents, flocculating agents, swelling agents, foam stabilizers, etc.

See also

References

Relevant Sciencemadness threads