A REVIEW OF RECENT DEVELOPMENTS ON THE REGULATORY, STRUCTURAL AND FUNCTIONAL-ASPECTS OF GUM-ARABIC

There have been substantial developments recently concerning the regul atory aspects of gum arabic and the elucidation of its structure and f unctional characteristics. The aim of this paper is to present the pos ition with regard to its current legal definition, to summarize what i s now known about the structure of this complex polysaccharide and to illustrate how the structural features relate to its functional proper ties, notably its ability to stabilize oil-in-water emulsions and to f orm concentrated solutions of low viscosity.