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.

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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