Ghatti gum

Description

A water soluble exudate from the stems of Angeissus latifolia trees native to India and Sri Lanka. Ghatti gum is a complex polysaccharide containing arabinose, Galactose, Mannose, Xylose, galacturonic acid, and glucuronic acid. When mixed with water, ghatti forms a thixotropic solution whose viscosity increases geometrically with concentration. Gum ghatti dispersions have emulsification and adhesive properties equivalent to or superior to those of Gum arabic and it is used in many of the same applications. Gum ghatti is also used as a dye thickener, a textile size, and an adhesive.

Synonyms and Related Terms

Angeissus latifolia; goma ghatti (Esp.); Indian gum; British Indian gum; gatty gum; ghati gum; marike gum; gum ghatti

Physical and Chemical Properties

• Soluble in water. Insoluble in ethanol.
• CAS = 9000-28-6

Resources and Citations

• Richard S. Lewis, Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 10th ed., 1993

• S.R.Trotman, E.R. Trotman, Textile Analysis, J.B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, 1932

• I.W. Cottrell, J.K. Baird, gums chapter

• Van Nostrand's Scientific Encyclopedia, Douglas M. Considine (ed.), Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York, 1976

• John S. Mills, Raymond White, The Organic Chemistry of Museum Objects, Butterworth Heineman, London, 2nd ed., 1994

• The Merck Index, Martha Windholz (ed.), Merck Research Labs, Rahway NJ, 10th edition, 1983 Comment: entry 4424