Anderson D M, Morrison N A
Chemistry Department, The University, Edinburgh, UK.
Food Addit Contam. 1990 Mar-Apr;7(2):181-8. doi: 10.1080/02652039009373882.
Combretum gums, readily available at low prices in East and West Africa, may be offered for sale as 'gum arabic'. Vigilance is necessary to detect such misrepresentations because Combretum gums differ greatly from gum arabic (Acacia senegal (L.) Willd.) in terms of quality, solution properties and value. Moreover, because there is no toxicological evidence for their safety in use, Combretum gums are not included in any of the international lists of permitted food additives. Food manufacturers and regulatory authorities therefore require data that characterize Combretum gums so that their use in foodstuffs can be prevented. This paper presents such data for the gums from a further six Combretum species. All of these have negative optical rotations similar to that of food grade gum arabic. It is no longer sufficient, therefore, to rely solely on an optical rotation measurement to confirm the identity of gum arabic. The additional analyses necessary to differentiate between Combretum gums and gum arabic are discussed.
在东非和西非很容易以低价买到的风车子树胶，可能会被当作“阿拉伯胶”出售。必须保持警惕以察觉这种误称，因为风车子树胶在质量、溶解特性和价值方面与阿拉伯胶（阿拉伯金合欢）有很大不同。此外，由于没有毒理学证据证明其使用安全，风车子树胶未被列入任何国际允许使用的食品添加剂清单。因此，食品制造商和监管当局需要有关风车子树胶特性的数据，以便防止其在食品中的使用。本文给出了另外六种风车子树胶的此类数据。所有这些树胶的旋光性均为负值，与食品级阿拉伯胶相似。因此，仅依靠旋光测量来确认阿拉伯胶的身份已不再足够。本文讨论了区分风车子树胶和阿拉伯胶所需的其他分析方法。
