A review of recent developments on the regulatory, structural and functional aspects of gum arabic

There have been substantial developments recently concerning the regulatory aspects of gum arabic and the elucidation of its structure and functional characteristics. The aim of this paper is to present the position with regard to its current legal definition, to summarize what is now known about the structure of this complex polysaccharide and to illustrate how the structural features relate to its functional properties, notably its ability to stabilize oil-in-water emulsions and to form concentrated solutions of low viscosity.