Physicochemical Properties of Gum Arabic

Article history Received: 19 November 2020 Accepted: 18 December 2020 Published Online: 30 December 2020 Gum Arabic is harvested commercially from wild trees throughout the Sahel from Senegal and Sudan to Somalia and in the northern part of Nigeria. Clumps of gum Arabic were collected and dirt particles were removed, the samples were dried and grounded to fine powder. The Physicochemical properties of gum Arabic was determined using standard methods and the values obtained showed; Moisture content 6.9% ± 5, Soluble content 90.6%, Viscosity 5.45 ± 3Ns/m2, Ash content 3.2 ± 4%, Zinc 3mg/kg, Iron 41mg/kg ± 5, Manganese 48.2mg/kg ± 5 and Copper 33.3mg/kg ± 2. The gum also contains carbohydrate 0.3ppm ± 2, protein 0.75ppm ± 2, starch 0.0076 ± 10 and nitrogen 0.12ppm ± 5. It was observed that the gum does not contain cadmium and nickel.