Plant Gums

James N BeMiller, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA

Published online: April 2001

DOI: 10.1038/npg.els.0000698

The term gum is commonly applied to water-soluble, nonstarch polysaccharides of commerce; such gums are present in both higher and lower plants. Plant gums and other gums are used in practical applications primarily to thicken or gel aqueous systems and to control water. They may also function as adhesives, crystallization inhibitors, emulsifying agents, emulsion stabilizers, encapsulating agents, film formers, foam stabilizers, suspending agents, suspension stabilizers, or syneresis inhibitors and/or impart other specific properties.

Keywords: hydrocolloids; gums; polysaccharides

Figure 1. Primary monomer unit of a pectin molecule.
Figure 2. Monomer units of alginates: Man pA = -d-mannopyranosyluronate unit; LGul pA, -l-gulopyranosyluronate unit.
Figure 3. Idealized repeating disaccharide unit structures of - and -type carrageenans and furcellaran. In -type carrageenans, the right-hand unit is an -d-galactopyranosyl unit, i.e. a unit without the 3,6-anhydro ring.
Figure 4. Idealized repeating trisaccharide unit structure of guaran. Guaran actually has a slightly higher d-galactosyl side unit content and the branched units are randomly distributed. Tara gum has fewer branched units and locust bean gum even fewer.
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 Further Reading
    BeMiller JN (1999) Structure–property correlations of non-starch food polysaccharides. Macromolecular Symposia 140: 1–15.
    book BeMiller JN (2000) "Classification, structure, and chemistry of polysaccharides in foods". In: Cho SS and Dreher M (eds) Handbook of Dietary Fiber and Functional Foods, pp. 603–611. New York: Marcel Dekker.
    book Dey PM and Dixon RA (eds) (1985) Biochemistry of Storage Polysaccharides in Green Plants. London: Academic Press.
    book Eliasson A-C (ed.) (1996) Carbohydrates in Food. New York: Marcel Dekker.
    book El-Nokaly MA and Soini HA (eds) (1999) Polysaccharide Applications: Cosmetics and Pharmaceuticals. Washington, DC: American Chemical Society.
    book Glicksman M (ed.) (1982, 1983, 1986) Food Hydrocolloids, vols 1, 2, 3. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
    book Lewis JG, Stanley NF and Guist GG (1988) "Commercial production and applications of algal hydrocolloids". In: Lembi CA and Walland JR (eds) Algae and Human Affairs, pp. 205–236. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
    book Painter TJ (1983) "Algal polysaccharides". In: Aspinall GO (ed.) The Polysaccharides, vol. 2, pp. 195–285. New York: Academic Press.
    book Sandford PA and Baird J (1983) "Industrial utilization of polysaccharides". In: Aspinall GO (ed.) The Polysaccharides, vol. 2, pp. 411–490. New York: Academic Press.
    book Stephen AM (ed.) (1995) Food Polysaccharides and Their Applications. New York: Marcel Dekker.
    book Whistler RL and BeMiller JN (eds) (1993) Industrial Gums, 3rd edn. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
    book Whistler RL and BeMiller JN (1997) Carbohydrate Chemistry for Food Scientists. St Paul, MN: Eagen Press.

Related Sub-Topics:

Other Biomolecules: Structure, Function, Metabolism | Plant Secondary Metabolism
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Article Title: Plant Gums
 
How to Cite close
BeMiller, James N(Apr 2001) Plant Gums. In: eLS. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Chichester. http://www.els.net [doi: 10.1038/npg.els.0000698]