Gum Arabic, also known as gum arabic, gum Sudan, English name Gum Arabic, is a natural gum from the African leguminous plant Senegal catechu and Seyle acacia. Senegal catechu is also known as gum arabic tree, and its English name is Senegalia Senegal.
These two plants only grow in Africa and West Asia, and their commercial cultivation is mainly concentrated in African countries such as Sudan and Nigeria. Gum Arabic from Sudan accounts for 70% of the global total.
As an important food ingredient, gum arabic has good water solubility because it contains glycoproteins, polysaccharides and other components, and can be used in food as an emulsifier, stabilizer, suspending agent, adhesive, and film-forming agent. One of the most widely used hydrocolloids in the world.
Gum Arabic in carbonated beverages is usually added in the form of an emulsified flavor, which is the key to stable mixing of different ingredients in the beverage. Through the contained emulsifier components, the emulsified flavor can change the surface tension coefficient of the solvent, so that the carbon dioxide in the carbonated beverage can stably exist in the beverage.
Gum Arabic is the key emulsifier in most emulsified flavors: it has good emulsifying properties and is especially suitable for oil-in-water emulsification systems. As a result, gum arabic has become an almost irreplaceable ingredient in carbonated drinks. Because of it, the "soul" in carbonated drinks - carbon dioxide can be integrated into carbonated drinks, and finally bloom on the tip of our tongues.
In addition to gum arabic, the same type of colloidal ingredients on the market include gelatin, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, carrageenan, etc., but because gum arabic can make the emulsified flavor have ideal turbidity and stability, plus gelatin Such gums have the disadvantage of being prone to aging, which has led many flavor and fragrance companies to use gum arabic to produce emulsified flavors.
Gum Arabic also has the advantages of good stability, low viscosity, odorless, colorless, and easy processing. It can not only help stabilize the suspension, emulsion, foam, etc. in the beverage, prevent them from separating and sedimenting during production and storage, thereby extending the shelf life of the beverage, but also increase the fluidity of the beverage, making it easier to process and produce.
