Gum Arabic: More Than an Edible Emulsifier

Abstract

A review. GA is a natural biopolymer with wide industrial use as a stabilizer, a thickener, an emulsifier and in additive encapsulation not only in food industry but also in textiles, ceramics, lithog., cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry. This article describes the general aspects of the source, compn., and already known uses of Gum Arabic (GA) as well as some new aspects of its antioxidant capacity against some reactive oxygen substances (ROS), and its antimicrobial activity (AMA). Besides all the sensory and texturizing properties, GA has interesting antioxidant properties such as an efficient capacity for deactivation of excited electronic states and moderated radical scavenging capacity. [on SciFinder(R)]