Fields of Application.

Gum Arabic has many fields of application as a condensing, emulsifying, structuring agent, as well as a stabilizing agent for aromas and essential oils in beverage production, in confectionery industry for the production of gumdrops, lozenges, sweets, and as foam stabilizer in the production of soft candies and toffees.       

                                                                         lozenges

                                                                         lozenges

  

                                                                        gumdrops                    

                                                                         toffees.

                                                                            toffees.

                                                                      soft candies

• Bakery 
• Gum arabic is widely used in the baking industry for its low water absorption properties.The gum is      cold  water soluble and have impressive adhesive properties for use in glazes and toppings.

• Confectionery
  
  

  Gum Arabic has been used widely in the confectionery industry. With most confectionery products, Gum Arabic has two important functions - to retard or prevent sugar crystallization and to emulsify the fat and keep it evenly distributed throughout the product. For prevention of sugar crystallization, Gum Arabic finds its greatest application in confections in which sugar content is high and moisture is low, e.g., in jujubes and pastilles. With theses products, the technique of incorporating the flavors is extremely important. Usually, the Gum Arabic is dissolved in water and the solution is filtered, mixed with sugar, and boiled. The flavor is added with a minimum of stirring to prevent formation of bubbles or opaque spots.
  The second function, as a fat emulsifier, is essential to keeping fat distributed uniformly throughout an easily oxidizable, greasy film. This property makes Gum Arabic extremely useful as an emulsifying agent in caramels and toffees.
• Flavors
  
  

  The emulsification properties of Gum Arabic are utilized in various liquid flavor emulsions. Many citrus oils and other beverage flavor emulsions utilize the emulsification properties of the Gum. When used as a flavor fixative, the superior film forming ability of Gum Arabic makes it ideal for protecting the flavor from oxidation, evaporation and absorption of moisture from the air.
• Brewing
  It is used as a foam stabilizer and agent to promote adhesion of foam to glass.

• Pharmaceuticals
  
  

  Gum Arabic suspending and stabilizing properties are employed to suspend insoluble drugs and to prevent the precipitation of heavy metals. Its emulsifying property is used for calomine, magnesia, and kaolin suspensions and liquid petrolatum and cod liver emulsions. Many cough drops and syrups utilize Gum Arabic because of its demulcent of soothing characteristics. Gum Arabic is used as an adhesive and binder for pharmaceutical tablets as well as in their coating.
• Cosmetics
  As a protective colloid, Gum Arabic is used in creams, lotions, mascaras and cake cosmetics.

• Printmaking
  Gum arabic is also used to protect and etch an image in lithographic processes. Ink tends to fill into white space on photosensitive aluminum plates if they do not receive a layer of gum. In lithography the gum etch is used to etch the most subtle gray tones. Phosphoric acid is added in varying concentrations to the gum arabic to etch the darker tones up to dark blacks. Multiple layers of gum are used after the etching process to build up a protective barrier that ensures the ink does not fill into the whites pace of the image being printed.

• Inks
  Gum Arabic is an important constituent of many special purpose inks. Water color and quick drying inks utilize the suspending and binding properties of Gum Arabic.
• Textiles
  Gum Arabic gives body in finishing silk and rayon fabric without loss of transparency. It is also used as a sizing and finishing agent in printing formulations for imparting designs or decorations to fabrics.

• Painting and art
  
  Gum arabic is used as a binder for watercolor painting because it dissolves easily in water. Pigment of
  any color is suspended within the gum arabic in varying amounts, resulting in watercolor paint. Water acts as a vehicle or a diluent to thin the watercolor paint and helps to transfer the paint to a surface such as paper. When all moisture evaporates, the gum arabic binds the pigment to the paper surface.
• Lithography
  In lithography, Gum Arabic is used as a sensitizers for lithographic plates as an element in the light          sensitive composition and as an ingredient of the fountain solution.

• Photography
  
  The historical photography process of gum bichromate photography uses gum arabic mixed with ammonium orpotassium dichromate and pigment to create a coloured photographic emulsion that is sensitive to ultraviolet light. In the final print, the gum arabic permanently binds the pigments onto the paper.
  
• Pyrotechnics
  
  Gum arabic is also used as a water soluble binder in firework composition.
  
  
  
  
  
   
   Powdered gum arabic for artists. One part 
     gum arabic is dissolved in four parts distilled
      water to make a liquid suitable for adding to 
                                                                   pigments.