Abstract
The term gum is referring to a group of polysaccharides with various commercial functionalities which can create aqueous viscous dispersions and gels and stabilize different types of emulsion systems at low concentrations except for gum Arabic and some specific gums with low viscosity which need high concentrations even up to 10% to play their functions. Natural gums are considered as high molecular weights hydrophilic carbohydrate which can partially or completely dissolve or swell in water to produce colloidal dispersions with various mechanical and rheological properties. During the last decades, these natural hydrocolloids have been attractive alternatives to synthetic polymers as they are mostly inert, inexpensive, biocompatible, safe, odorless, and easily available. Therefore, this chapter reviews the important and practical natural gums with a wide range of applications in the pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industries.
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1 Introduction
The term gum is referring to a group of polysaccharides with various commercial functionalities which can create aqueous viscous dispersions, gels and stabilize different types of emulsion systems at low concentrations except for gum Arabic and some specific gums with low viscosity which need high concentrations even up to 10% to play their functions [15, 84, 142]. Natural gums are considered as high molecular weights hydrophilic carbohydrates which can partially or completely dissolve or swell in water to produce colloidal dispersions with various mechanical and rheological properties [108]. Normally, these long chains gums cannot dissolve in oils or organic solvents such as alcohols, hydrocarbons, and ethers. During the last decades, these natural hydrocolloids have been attractive alternatives to synthetic polymers as they are mostly inert, inexpensive, biocompatible, safe, odorless, and easily available [37, 84].
2 Origin of Gums
Generally, gums are extracted from natural origins including plants (stem, leaves, roots, tuber, seed, and exudates), shrubs or trees, marine/algal, microbial (bacterial and fungal), and animal sources. Leguminosae, Sterculiaceae, Anacardiaceae, Combretaceae, Meliaceae, Rosaceae, and Rutaceae are the main plant gums families [50]. Table 1.1 represents the sources and common names of gums.
Plant origins are the largest sources of gums [63]. According to the one of most popular theories, plant gums are formed through the natural gummosis phenomenon through a decomposition process inside plant tissues, leading to the formation of some cavities for exuding carbohydrate-based components known as gum. In the second theory, gums are pathological products produced by breaking or injuring bark and stem of plants as well as exposing to attack by fungi and bacteria. In this regard, gum Arabica, gum Ghatti, gum Tragacanth, Khaya, and Albizia gums are recognized as tree exudates. Guar Gum and Locust bean Gum are examples of seed gums.
3 Chemical Structure of Gums
Like all carbohydrate-based polymers, the chemical structure of gums affects their physiochemical properties and applications. Therefore, a deeper insight into the molecular structure of gums is needed to determine their functionalities for prospecting and developing applications, either individually or in combination with each other in real food systems. Different intermolecular forces like crosslinking, intermolecular/intramolecular hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic, electrostatic, and ionic interactions lead to the various structures of gums [142]. Gums are created by monosaccharide groups joined by glycosidic linkages. They can be formed from galactose, arabinose, galacturonic acid, glucuronic acid rhamnose, xylose, mannose, and other compounds [26, 63, 110]. Moreover, various sugars can be presented in the main or side chains of the gum backbone. Figure 1.1 shows the chemical structure of some common gums in food and pharmaceutical formulations.
Chemical structure of some common gums in food and pharmaceutical industries. (Adopted from Rana et al. [105])
The gum complexity is also related to the degree of branching. Xanthan is an example of short branches gums, while Gum Arabic and Tragacanth have more branches in their structure as shown in Fig. 1.2. At a certain molecular weight, linear gums can occupy more space, resulting in more viscous solutions compared to highly branched ones. In the case of gelling capacity, the presence of more branches hinders the strong junction zones to create a three-dimensional structure and therefore they exhibit less capacity to form gels [47]. In contrast, the branched gums have high solubility due to weak intramolecular association as a result of the steric effects, as well as a decrease in the excluded volume [51]. For example, gum Arabic with a highly branched molecular structure has excellent water solubility at room temperature, up to 30%, which makes it a commercial emulsifier.
Most of the gums carry charged groups (e.g. carboxylic groups and sulfuric ester groups) in their structure which can improve their water solubility due to the increase of the molecular affinity to water molecules and also by avoiding the intermolecular bonding due to the electrostatic interaction of the charged group [47, 51]. Therefore, the increase of ionic strength by adding salt over a critical value or reducing the pH value in the gum solution could shield these charged effects and hence increase the viscosity and gel formation. Xanthan, gum Arabic, gum Karaya, gum Tragacanth are examples are anionic gums (negatively charged) and cationic guar gum is one typical positively charged gum [47, 51]. Various metals are also present in gum structures such as potassium, calcium, and magnesium.
4 Characteristics and Potential Applications of Gums
Solubility, viscosity, and gelation are considered the key functionalities of gums. The dissolution of gums takes place under a continuous hydration process in which the intermolecular interactions of the gum molecules are gradually changed to molecule–water interactions. The existence of high levels of hydroxyl groups in the gum structure leads to this strong affinity to water. However, these hydroxyl groups can also form strong hydrogen bonds between gum chains. Thus, the balance of interactions between molecule-molecule and molecule-water is the main parameter to determine gum solubility [51]. Moreover, particle size, temperature, and structural and conformational properties are also effective parameters on the full dissolution of the gums [47].
Viscosity is another important function of gums that leads to performing as thickening and stabilizer agents. This resistance of a gum solution to flow under shearing forces creates due to the intermolecular entanglements. Viscosity is affected by the temperature, concentration, pH, salt, and chemical structure of gum solutions or dispersions [47].
Gelling ability is defined as the formation of junction zones between two or more gum chains to produce a three-dimensional structure which entraps a large volume of water or other solvents. These association regions can be created through hydrogen-, ionic-, van der Waals-, and hydrophobic- bondings. However, too long interaction zones in chains can lead to aggregation and precipitation of gum in the dispersions. The excellent gelling capacity of specific gums can be applied for different purposes.
5 Food Applications of Gums
The promising functionalities of natural gums make them important food additives to provide specific physicochemical properties in various food systems. They are used in many food formulations as nutrient dietary fiber sources, thickening/gelling/emulsifying agent, stabilizer, structure and/or viscosity modifier, sensorial modifier, fat replacer, and inhibitor of ice and sugar crystal formation [15, 109, 116]. These physical functionalities of gums are responsible to produce structure and textural properties in numerous food systems like soups, sauces, jams, jellies, marmalades, baked goods, confections, pie fillings, toppings, puddings, salad dressings, ice cream, yogurt, foams, and emulsions. It should be noticed that different parameters including temperature, concentration, pH, and ionic strength can affect the physical functionalities of gums solutions or dispersions. Moreover, the mixtures of gums are frequently applied to enhance the physical properties of food formulations due to their synergistic effects, leading to a significant decrease in gum concentration and hence production costs. The synergistic interactions of gellan gum and xanthan Gum [147], kappa-carrageenan and Locust-bean gum [126], tara gum with xanthan [125], and xanthan and guar gum have been previously reported.
5.1 Edible Packaging Applications of Gums
The edible film is a thin layer of bio-based materials coated with the food or located between the food product and the environment. While edible coatings produce directly on the food surface as a thin layer. These natural packaging materials can be eaten with food products [82]. Gums are finding increasing applications in several film and coating forming purposes due to their ability to form highly elastic gel structures with low hardness and good barrier properties [38, 46, 55, 115]. In addition, the presence of a high level of hydroxyl functional groups (i.e., hydroxyl groups and different polar groups) and ionic interactions in gums molecular chains make them appropriate natural packaging materials with improved mechanical strength as an alternative to synthetic polymers [23, 46].
5.2 Pharmaceutical Applications of Gums
Gums offer a variety of promising applications in medicine and pharmacy as tablets binder (e.g., Albizia gum, Abelmoschus gum, and Acacia gum, sustain agent in tablets (e.g., guar gums, xanthan gums, and karaya gum), disintegrating agent (e.g., gellan gum and Leucaena seed gum), bulk laxatives (e.g., agar gam, mango gum, carrageenan, gellan gum, Karaya gum), and stabilizing agent and protective colloids in suspensions and emulsions (Agar gum, Acacia gum, Guar gum, carrageenan, ghatti gum, karaya gum, Tragacanth gum, Xanthan gum) [18, 29, 88, 112, 114, 132].
5.3 Encapsulation Applications of Gum
Today, microencapsulation is the most important emerging and efficient approach to protect the sensitives bioactive compounds from the harsh process or environmental conditions. Moreover, efficient transfer and active-controlled release behavior of bioactives can achieve by microencapsulation. Locust bean, gellan gum, xanthan gum, and Arabic gum are the main examples of gum-based encapsulating materials which have been studied [81, 113]. In the field of functional foods design, the successful application of gums as wall materials in microencapsulation and delivery of various ingredients including aromas, flavors, pigments, probiotics, and nutraceutical compounds are well documented. Gums as encapsulating materials can improve the long-term stability and bioactivity of bioactive compounds during processing, storage, and digestion [41, 42, 76, 115, 130].
6 Specific Gums
6.1 Gum Arabic
Gum Arabic or gum Acacia (Fig. 1.3), also known as Gum hashab and Gum talha (in Sudan) is a dried ooze obtained from the stems and branches of Acacia senegal or Acacia seyal [141]. The trees can be found all over Africa’s Sahelian belt, located north of the equator to the Sahara Desert [61]. Gum Arabic, as the oldest and the most popular natural gums, exudates once the trees are subjected to harsh environmental situations such as drought stress, poor soil, and wounding. Gum Arabic is primarily composed of high molecular weight polysaccharides including arabinose, galactose, rhamnose, and glucuronic acid. Besides, it has calcium, magnesium, and potassium salts in its structure [60]. However, the chemical structure of Gum Arabic is dependent mainly on its origin, weather and growing condition, age of the tree, and operating settings (e.g., spray drying). Different shapes and colors from white to yellowish- flakes, granules, or powder are present for Gum Arabic in the market. It is insoluble in alcohol, whereas easily dissolves in an aqueous medium, resulting in a clear solution with different colors from very pale yellow to orange-brown. Gum Arabic exhibits good stability under acidic conditions (pH of ~4.5) [79, 141].
Since ancient times, Gum Arabic was a commerce item. It was used extensively by Egyptians for mummifying and painting (hieroglyphic inscriptions). Nowadays, it commonly used in the confectionery industry, icing, pastilles, chewing gums, marshmallows, and toffees, fillings as an emulsifier and a thickening agent to offer structure and texture to food products [6, 79, 121]. Additionally, in the soft drinks, juices, cola flavor oils, and beverages emulsions industries. Gum Arabic is considered as natural emulsifier, stabilizer, and thickening agent in various applications [11, 121]. Due to its film-forming characteristics, it is also used as a functional ingredient for confectionery coatings, adhesive, and glazes applications as well as fruit and vegetables shelf-life enhancement [96, 137]. Other food applications of Gum Arabic are including the encapsulation of flavors and essential oils to protect them from oxidation and as a food additive, antimicrobial agent, lubricant, and a binder ingredient in extruded snack foods [101, 121].
Pharmacologically, the health effects of Gum Arabic as an indigestible polysaccharide, as well as its satiety, anti-obese, anti-inflammatory, anti-coagulation and cardiovascular, renal, and intestinal effects have been well investigated [20, 139]. Moreover, Gum Arabic can be considered as an appropriate safe natural excipient to develop efficient drug delivery systems [12].
(a) Gum Arabic exudated from Acacia senegal trees and (b) granules of Gum Arabic. (Adapted from Patel and Goyal [101])
6.2 Basil Seed Gum
Basil seed gum (Fig. 1.4) is produced from the basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) plant which is grown in Iran and India. Locally, the basil plant is called “Reyhan” in Iran and attracts increasing attention in traditional medicine to treat colic ulcers, dyspepsia, diarrhea, warts, worms, inflammations, and kidney malfunction [56, 69]. Moreover, it is also a well-known condiment with specific taste and flavoring characteristics that present high antioxidant, anticancer, anti-allergic, and antimicrobial activities [90]. When basil seed soaks in water, the external epidermis swells into a gelled structure [90]. It is reported that the highest extraction yield of basil seed gum is achieved at a temperature of 69 °C, pH value equal to 8, and 65:1 water to seed ratio [111]. The apparent viscosity and protein content of basil seed gum are also significantly dependent on the different extraction conditions. For example, higher temperatures can reduce the viscosity of gum, while increasing the mass transfer from the cell wall into the extract [118]. The basil seed gum is a high molecular weight acidic polysaccharide (2320 kDa) which can be classified into two major factions: PER- basil seed gum (5980 kDa) with the yield of 69% and SUPER- basil seed gum (1045 kDa) with the yield of 31% [89, 90]. According to fractionation analysis, basil seed gum has very a heterogeneous structure consisting of a pentosan fraction with high content of uronic acids and two hexosan-rich fractions [144].
The efficient techno-functional properties of basil seed gum have gained great attention for food and pharmaceutical purposes. Foaming, gelling, thickening, stabilizing, and emulsifying characteristics of basil seed gum have been well documented in different studies. Moreover, basil seed gum can create fat-like structure, an appropriate mouthfeel, and opacity properties in developing novel low-fat foods, as a fat replacer. Its favorable characteristics were clearly investigated in mayonnaise sauce, pistachio butter, salad dressings, ice cream, and yogurt [89,90,91, 97]. Basil seed gum also exhibits high potential functionalities in the functional food design for oral delivery of bioactive compounds with high encapsulation and loading efficiency [92].
In addition, the hydrophilic nature and biodegradability, availability, low price, edibility, and thermal stability of basil seed gum make it an ideal candidate as film-forming and film-coating materials with excellent mechanical and barrier properties for numerous food applications [39, 40, 56].
(a) Basil plant, (b) basil seeds, (c) seeds swelled in water, (d) mucilaginous mass, and (e) basil seed gum powder. (Adapted from Razavi and Naji-Tabasi [109])
6.3 Persian Gum
Persian gum, also known as Farsi, Ozdu, Angum or Angom, Shirazi, Arjhan, gum gharacia, gomme notras, and Zedo gum, is the exudate of wild almond (Amygdalus scoparia Spach) shrubs or trees which their origin is mostly in central parts of Asia, Irano-Tourani and Zagrosi provinces, as shown in Fig. 1.5 [2, 46]. Although the natural exudate from the other genus of the Rosacea family including peach, plum, apricot, and cherry, are also known as Persian gum, they are not commercially important [27].
Teardrops of Persian gum on the wild almond trunk (Amygdalus scoparia Spach) tree in their natural size, color, and shape. (Adapted from Dabestani et al. [27])
The appearance of Persian gum is clear or semi-cloudy which is commercially available in diverse forms, sizes (i.e., large granules, sugar crystals, and powder), and color (i.e., white, light yellow, dark yellow, light brown, dark brown, amber, or red) [2, 46], as presented in Fig. 1.5. This odorless exudate is considered as a partially soluble gum because under the effect of centrifugal forces or normal gravity separates into two soluble and insoluble portions. The former portion which is accounted for 25–30% w/w dissolves easily in cold water, while the latter fraction with a percent of 70–75 (w/w) can partially dissolve in warm water [8, 27, 68, 78, 106]. The pH of Persian gum dispersion at 1% w/w in water is 4.30–4.62. It has been reported that the pH is adversely linked with color, and hence the lighter gum shows a higher pH value [27]. In terms of chemical structural properties, Persian gum includes mainly arabinose and galactose and traces of rhamnose, xylose, and mannose [27, 32]. According to the quantitative results of chromatographic analysis, Persian gum is considered as an arabinogalactan gum, like gum Arabic [46, 52]. Regarding the high price of tragacanth and gum Arabic, Persian gum offers more practical applications at a lower price.
The promising applications of Persian gum as an emulsifying and stabilizing agent have been studied over the last decades in different model food systems such as milk–orange juice [3], milk–sour cherry juice mixtures [129], acidic milk-based drinks [14], orange peel essential oil nanoemulsions [57], and tomato ketchup [72]. Moreover, the replacement of gelatin by Persian gum up to 40% w/w also has been reported in the formulation of jelly or gummy due to its gelation ability [4]. In the bakery industry, the application of Persian gum can influence the dough rheological characteristics (e.g., water absorption and extensibility), baking properties, staling, and organoleptic attributes [117]. In addition, an appropriate film forming ability of Persian gum in the presence of glycerol was also reported in several studies [46].
6.4 Xanthan
The micro-organism Xanthomonas campestris produces xanthan gum by secretion, which is a resistant extracellular polysaccharide against enzymatic degradation [5, 103]. During the normal life cycle of the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris, a complex enzymatic mechanism generates xanthan gum at the cell wall surface. Xanthan is commercially derived by an anaerobic and submerged fermentation-purification method via a pure culture of the bacterium [65]. Xanthan gum is soluble in cold water and exhibits a pseudoplastic flow pattern. The viscosity of xanthan solution shows high stability over a wide range of pH and temperature [43]. The structure of xanthan gum consists of a linear (1→4)-linked β-D-glucose backbone with a trisaccharide side chain on every other glucose at C-3, comprising a glucuronic acid residue linked (1→4) to a terminal mannose unit and (1→2) to a second mannose that attaches to the backbone [64]. During heating, xanthan gum solutions experience a conformational transformation from a stiff structure at low temperatures to a more flexible and disordered structure at high temperatures. The high degree of pseudoplasticity in xanthan gum compared to most other polysaccharide solutions can improve flavor release profile, mouthfeel, smoothness, air incorporation, and retention abilities in batters for cakes, muffins, biscuits, pancake, and bread [122]. Moreover, xanthan gum is an ideal stabilizer and thickener additive for formulations of ice cream, sherbet, sour cream, whipped cream, and recombined milk, among other frozen and chilled dairy products due to its low pH and freeze-thaw stability, high salt resistance, excellent rheological properties at low shear, and pseudoplastic behavior [65, 123]. The high molecular weight of xanthan is ideal for building up physical and chemical 3D networks as carriers for drugs, nutraceutical, bioactive compounds and as scaffolds for cells [102]. Moreover, xanthan offers high potential applications in oil recovery, paper manufacturing, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, biomedical, and cosmetics industries [143].
6.5 Gellan
Sphingomonas elodea, previously known as Pseudomonas elodea, secretes gellan gum as a linear extracellular polysaccharide that comprises a repeating unit of glucose, glucuronic acid, glucose, and rhamnose and hence one carboxyl group in the repeating unit. According to the acyl substitution degree, there are two variants of gellan gum including high acyl (HA) and low acyl (LA), which both are not dissolved in cold water. However, they disperse in water by slow addition under continuous stirring [45, 74]. The hot solution of gellan gum, at low concentrations, can create a weak gel network during cooling as a result of double helices development from random coil chains. The presence of cations in this solution promotes the formation of cation-mediated aggregates by double helices, leading to strong gel networks. HA gellan gum provides soft, very elastic, and resistant gel structures, while LA gellan gum leads to firm, non-elastic, and brittle gel structures under optimum gelling conditions [48]. Since 1988, gellan gum has been regarded as a natural food additive in Japan. Today, it is known as a common food additive around the world. The application of gellan gum has been reported in the sugar confectionery and dessert jellies as a gelling agent. Fluid gel, a very weak gel network formed by HA gellan gum at low concentrations, also exhibits excellent suspension characteristics to apply in various dairy and soy products, including chocolate milk [133]. In addition, gellan gum can form films and coatings for breading and batters purposes to reduce oil absorption as an effective barrier [124].
Moreover, the nontoxicity, mucoadhesiveness, thermal and low-pH resistance, and high transparency of gellan gum offer various functionalities in the field of pharmacy and medicine to produce gels, tablet binder, drug delivery, and controlled release dosage forms, beads, microcapsules, nanohydrogels, nanoparticles for oral, ophthalmic, nasal, and topical applications [83, 98].
6.6 Carrageenan
Carrageenan denotes a family of high molecular weight polysaccharides which are obtained from the cell walls of specific species of red seaweeds (Rhodophyceae). The origins of this type of red seaweed are the Atlantic Ocean near Britain, Europe, and North America. Carrageenan with a molecular weight above 100 kDa is a linear sulfated polygalactan composed of alternate units of β-D-galactopyranose and α-D-galactopyranose bonded by α-1,3 and β-1,4-glycosidic linkage [21, 103]. Xylose, glucose, uronic acids, methyl ethers, and pyruvate groups are the main carbohydrate residues in carrageenan structure [134]. Moreover, ammonium, calcium, magnesium, potassium, or sodium salts may present in the carrageenan structure to promote interactions between carrageenan helices [128].
Carrageenan family is classified into six types according to their solubility in potassium chloride including Iota (ι)-, Kappa (κ)-, Lambda (λ)-, Mu (μ)-, Nu (ν)- and Theta (θ)- carrageenan which are contained 22 to 35% sulphate groups (Fig. 1.6) [21]. Among them, ι-carrageenan with 3-linked, 4-sulfated galactose and a 4-linked 2 3,6-anhydrogalactose as well as a sulfate ester group on C-2 of the 3,6-anhydrogalactose residue, κ-carrageenan with a structure like the former without the additional sulfate ester, and λ- carrageenan with a 2-sulfated, 3-linked galactose unit, and a 2,6-disulfated 4- linked galactose unit, are the main commercial types of carrageenan [25, 135].
Different chemical structures of carrageenan family. (Adapted from Campo et al. [21])
ι- and κ-carrageenan are considered gel-forming agents, while λ-carrageenan is considered only as a thickening agent. The gel structures formed by carrageenans are thermo-reversible. Temperature and the presence of gel-inducing agents affect the gelling capacity of carrageenans. Gel formation involves two successive steps. First, a transition from random coil to helix conformation which was occurred during cooling. Second, the formation of intermolecular interactions and aggregations between helical structures in the presence of cations, leading to a stable three-dimensional gel network [34, 128]. The gel network formed by ι-carrageenan with calcium salts is elastic and transparent without syneresis, whereas κ-carrageenan leads to strong and rigid gels in the presence of potassium salts and brittle gels in the presence of calcium salts. Generally, κ-carrageenan gels are opaque and the addition of sugar can transform them into transparent gels [80].
Carrageenans represent extensive applications as a stabilizer, binder, oxygen barrier to delay lipid oxidation, gelling, and stabilizing agents in dairy products, meat products, infant food, nutritional supplement beverages, and pet foods [19, 53, 59, 93]. Carrageenans also offer many functionalities in pharmaceutical, cosmetics, printing, and textile formulations. In this regard, the successful applications of carrageenans in toothpaste as a stabilizer, in wound dressings as an absorber, in hand lotions as a softening agent, and shampoos to give silky hair were previously reported. Moreover, carrageenans are ideal carriers for designing sustained-release delivery systems [17, 21].
Carrageenans can also be used for edible film forming purposes due to their good barrier properties towards fats and oils and oxygen which make them suitable packaging materials for meat and meat products by protecting against lipid oxidation, shrinkage, microbial spoilage, and discoloration [7, 53, 95].
6.7 Curdlan
Curdlan as an extracellular microbial-based gum was introduced in 1964 by Harada et al. This name is derived from “Curdle” to define its gelling ability at high temperatures [77, 140]. Curdlan is made of glucosyl residues bonded by 1,3-D-glycosidic linkages, which are found in bacteria, fungi, algae, and advanced plants [148]. It produces by non-toxicogenic organisms Alcaligenes faecalis or Agrobacterium radiobacter [30]. Cellular debris, proteins, nucleic acids, and other organic acids can be present in commercial curdlan [67]. At room temperature, curdlan is insoluble in water and high acid medium, while it dissolves in alkaline aqueous solutions and DMSO (dimethyl sulfoxide). The water insolubility of curdlan is related to the presence of high intramolecular and intermolecular hydrogen bonding in crystalline regions [54]. Curdlan can form a firm and resilient gel with no additive such as sugar and cations as well as specific pH condition. Curdlan gels are classified into two types depending on the degree of heating temperature in an aqueous suspension, thermo-reversible and low-set network and thermo-irreversible and high-set network [85]. This property of curdlan makes it unique among other natural gelling gums. Curdlan gel exhibits extensive applications in the food industry because of its unique characteristics including tasteless, odorless, colorless, and outstanding gel shaping, and high freeze-thaw stability [85, 140]. Moreover, curdlan can also form a hydrogel in high fats and oils media [35, 36].
Curdlan gel uses as a common food additive to enhance and stabilize the texture and mechanical properties of noodles, jellies, ice cream, and fish paste products (e.g., kamaboko) and also as a water-holding agent in the processing of meat products such as (e.g., sausages, hams, and hamburgers) and dairy products. Moreover, as a fat replacer, curdlan gel can develop new products including low-fat sausage (coarse-cut) and non-fat whipped cream (analogue) [85]. The non-food applications of curdlan in biomedical purposes such as immunostimulatory activity, inhibition of tumor growth, activation of leukocytes, and induction of cytokine production in humans have been also reported [66, 71, 146]. Curdlan hydrogels can present a significant role as a drug delivery vehicle to enhance the release profile of the bioactive macromolecules [70].
6.8 Tragacanth
Gum tragacanth was introduced by Theophrastus before Christ. The name of this ancient gum originated from two Greek words: “tragos” referring goat, and “akantha” referring horn, which indicates the curved shape of this exudate gum. The dried gum exudes from different species of Astragalus genus’ (family Leguminosae) small shrubs, low bushy perennial shrubs with a large taproot and branches that grow mainly in the deserts and highland areas from Pakistan to Greece (mainly in South West Asia), specifically in Iran and Turkey [127]. Gum tragacanth is a highly branched and heterogeneous hydrophilic structure which its molecular weight is around 840 kDa. This anionic and acidic polysaccharide has two main fractions including water-soluble tragacanthin (30–40%) and water-swellable bassorin (60–70%) which consist of different contents of uronic acid, methoxyl, and sugar depending on their locations [103]. Tragacanthin has a spherical molecular shape consisting D-galactosyl backbones and L-arabinose side chains which can form a viscous colloidal hydrosol in aqueous media. In contrast, bassorin has a rod-like molecular shape consisting D-galacturonopyranosyl backbone with randomly side chains of D-xylose units which can absorb water more than10 times its weight, forming a mucilaginous gel [16, 62]. The chemical composition such as the amounts of uronic acid, methoxyl groups, and sugar in bassorin and tragacanthin are different according to the seasonal and geographical variations [145]. Gum tragacanths can be found in both ribbon or flake forms, as presented in Fig. 1.7. The former can form viscous solutions three times more than the latter types [107].
Gum tragacanth exhibits a well-defined capacity to modify the rheological properties of aqueous media even at low concentrations (less than 0.25%) by a rapid decrease in water surface tension activity. Since the viscosity of gum tragacanth dispersions declines with increasing the shear strain, it is considered as a non-Newtonian pseudoplastic fluid [44].
Ribbon or flake forms of Gum tragacanth
Today, gum tragacanth has been considered as a common suspending agent, stabilizer, thickener, and emulsifier in food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, textile, and leather purposes due to its emulsifying ability, high solubility and thermal resistance, excellent rheological properties, and long shelf life [120, 138]. In the food industry, the successful applications of gum tragacanth in flavour emulsions, salad dressings, condiments, sauces, bakery emulsions, bakery fruit-based fillings and toppings, confectionery, pastilles, soft drinks, jellies, desserts, ice creams, and spices were reported. In these formulations, gum tragacanth can provide good texture, consistency, creamy mouthfeel, flavour-release behavior and long-term storage stability [58]. It is also used as a fat replacer in non-fat yogurt, white cheese, nonfat fermented milk drink (doogh), and reduced fat sausage [1, 9, 49, 104]. Moreover, the edibility and biodegradability of gum tragacanth, make it an ideal natural food packaging material with excellent barrier and physical properties [75, 119].
Gum tragacanth is also used as a natural emulsifying and suspending agent in cosmetic products such as hair gels, creams, and emulsions [16, 33]. Drug delivery, wound healing, bone tissue engineering, immobilization are examples of gum tragacanth applications for biomedical purposes [28, 73, 145].
6.9 Locust Bean Gum
Locust bean gum, also called carob gum, is a galactomannan gum formed by crushing the seed endosperm of carob tree i.e., Ceratonia siliqua L, after the removal of the husk and germ portion through thermo-mechanical or by chemical processing [10]. The tree grows mainly in Spain and is also found in significant quantities of other Mediterranean countries such as Italy, Cyprus [10]. The structure of linear LBG consists of 3-D-mannopyranosyl units attached to side chains of d-galactopyranosyl groups via -(l–6) linkages. The side chains are not positioned homogeneously in the primary structure [87]. The molecular weight range of LBG is 300–360 kDa. Since LBG only marginally dissolves in water at room temperature, the maximum solubility is achieved using heating up to about 85 °C [16]. The rheological properties of LBG dispersions depend on concentration, molecular weight and size, the ratio of mannose to galactose, and galactose distribution in the main backbone [10]. As LBG has a non-ionic nature, its dispersions are not affected by pH and salts.
LBG is the first galactomannan family introduced as an additive for different purposes such as paper, textile, medicinal, cosmetic, and food products. The most frequent applications of LBG in foods are related to dairy and frozen dessert products due to its unique characteristics including high swelling and water binding capacities, spreadability, and creamy mouthfeel. For example, LBG accelerates coagulation, improves curd yield and curd separation in soft cheese products. In ice cream, LBG provides excellent thermal resistance, smooth meltdown, and good texture and chewiness, especially in a synergistic application with other gums such as guar gum, carrageenan, and carboxymethylcellulose. It is also used in barbeque sauces, salad dressings, imitation catsup, soups, and gravies as a stabilizer [10]. For edible films and coatings formation, LBG either individually or in combination with other hydrocolloids (i.e., carrageenan) can improve the water vapor permeability, oxygen permeability, and mechanical properties [22].
In pharmaceutical industries, LBG exhibit many applications in term of polymeric films, beads, micro-particles, nano-particles, gels, tablet, inhalable and injectable systems, and capsules as binders, solubilizers, viscosity enhancers, stabilizers, drug release enhancer, emulsifiers, suspending agents, gelling agents, and bioadhesives [136]. LGB also presents many health properties for diabetes, inflammatory bowel movements, heart disease, and colon cancer [149].
6.10 Guar Gum
Guar, also known as cluster bean (C. tetragonoloba L.), is a polygalactomannan derived from the endosperm of Cyamopsis tetragonolobus in the Leguminaceae family [31]. This plant is a summer annual legume that originated mainly in arid and semi-arid climates, such as northwest India and Pakistan. While India and Pakistan are the largest producers of guar gum, the crop is also grown in the United States, China, Australia, and the African continent in smaller quantities [131]. Like LBG, Guar gum consists of galactose and mannose in its structure with a higher degree of branching. In polar solvents, guar gum swells or dissolves by forming strong hydrogen interactions. Therefore, it can produce very high viscosities in water, even at very low concentrations (less than 1% w/v). In nonpolar solvents, guar gum creates only weak hydrogen bonding. Higher dissolution rate and viscosity values are generally obtained by reducing particle size and pH and increasing temperature [86].
Guar gum and its various chemical compounds are broadly used as a useful ingredient in the food, pharmaceuticals, paper, fiber, explosive, oil well drilling, ceramic and cosmetics industries. In the food industry, guar gum uses as a thickener, emulsifier, water-binding agent, and stabilizer in ice cream, sauces, cake mixes, cheese spreads, fruit drinks, bakery products and confections, meats and sausage, and dressings formulations [86, 99]. In the pharmaceutical industry, guar gum plays an important role as a binder and disintegrate in compressed tablets to enhance cohesiveness to drug powder. The successful application of guar gum for controlled release of dug due to its gelling property is also reported [100]. Since guar gum solutions mix well with most detergents, they can also use in cosmetic formulations such as shampoos and cleansers [24].
7 Conclusions and Futures Perspective
The term natural “gum” represents a large group of useful polysaccharides or their derivatives which include algal extracts, plant exudates, and those obtained by microbial fermentation. Gums offer promising applications in various industries due to their biodegradability, availability, safety, as well as cheapness compared to synthetic ones. Moreover, they are biocompatible, causing well toleration with the human body by easily hydrolysis to monosaccharides by colonic bacteria. Gums easily hydrate in hot or cold water to provide different physical and rheological properties. The application of natural gums for food and non-food purposes is attractive. However, their highly swellable and hydrophilic nature can restrict their specific use for packaging, encapsulation, and delivering nutraceuticals and drugs purposes. Besides, uncontrolled hydration, pH dependent solubility and thickening characteristics, viscosity reduction upon storage, batch to batch variation, and the risk of microbial contamination are the main difficulties for the application of natural gums. Chemical, physical, and enzymatical modifications of natural gums not only overcome these problems but also produce an entirely novel type of polymeric ingredients valuable in progressive delivery applications.
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Ghiasi, F., Hashemi Gahruie, H., Eskandari, M.H., Golmakani, MT., Khaneghah, A.M. (2021). Natural Gums. In: Gahruie, H.H., Eskandari, M.H., Mousavi Khaneghah, A., Ghiasi, F. (eds) Physicochemical and Enzymatic Modification of Gums. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-87996-9_1
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