NATURAL GUM

'Natural gums' are polysaccharides of natural origin, capable of causing a large viscosity increase in solution, even at small concentrations. In the food industry they are used as thickening agents, gelling agents, emulsifiers and stabilisers.
Examples include:

★ Agar (E406), obtained from seaweed

★ Alginic acid (E400), from seaweed

★ Beta-glucan, from oat or barley bran

★ Carrageenan (E407), from seaweed

★ Chicle gum, an older base for chewing gum obtained from the chicle tree

★ Dammar gum, from the sap of Dipterocarpaceae trees

★ Gellan gum (E418), produced by bacterial fermentation

★ Glucomannan (E425), from the konjac plant

★ Guar gum (E412), from guar beans

★ Gum arabic (E414), from the sap of acacia trees

★ Gum ghatti, from the sap of Anogeissus trees

★ Gum tragacanth (E413), from the sap of Astragalus shrubs

★ Karaya gum (E416), from the sap of sterculia trees

★ Locust bean gum (E410), from the seeds of the carob tree

★ Mastic gum, a chewing gum from ancient Greece obtained from the mastic tree

★ Psyllium seed husks, from the Plantago plant

★ Sodium alginate (E401), from seaweed

★ Spruce gum, a chewing gum of American Indians obtained from spruce trees

★ Tara gum (E417), from the seeds of the tara tree

★ Xanthan gum (E415), produced by bacterial fermentation