mucilages are the sulphuric acid esters (Malviya et al. 2011). Due to the high
concentration of hydroxyl groups in their structures, these have high water binding
capacity and this has led to studies of their role in plant water relations (Nayak and
Pal 2016).
The sources of some important plant mucilages, which have already been studied
for pharmaceutical applications, are listed in Table 3.2.
Table 3.1 Sources of some important plant gums for pharmaceutical applications
Plant gums
Common sources
Scientific name of the plant
Family
Gum Arabica/gum acacia
Acacia Arabica,
Acacia Senegal
Leguminoseae
Gum tragacanth
Astragalus gummifer
Leguminosae
Locust bean gum
Ceratonia siliqua
Fabaceae
Guar gum
Cyamompsis tetraganolobus
Leguminoseae
Okra gum
Hibiscus esculantus
Malvaceae
Tamarind gum
Tamarindus indica
Leguminoseae
Sterculia (karaya) gum
Sterculia urens
Sterculiaceae
Gum kondagogu
Cochlospermum gossypium
Colchospermaceae
Gum odina
Lannea woodier
Anacardiaceae
Gum cordia
Cordia obliqua
Boraginaceae
Moringa gum
Moringa oleifera
Moringaceae
Albizia gum
Albizia procera
Leguminoseae
Khaya gum
Khaya grandifoliola
Meliaceae
Terminalia gum
Terminalia randii
Combretaceae
Gum ghatti
Anogeissus latifolia
Combretaceae
Honey locust gum
Gleditsia triacanthos
Leguminosea
Abelmoschus gum
Abelmoschus esculantus
Malavaceae
Gum copal
Bursera bipinnata
Burseraceae
Gum dammar
Shorea Wiesneri
Dipterocarpaceae
Tara gum
Caesalpinia spinosa
Leguminosae
Moi gum
Lannea coromandelica
Anacardiaceae
Bahera gum
Terminalia bellerica roxb
Combretaceae
Hakea gum
Hakea gibbosa
Proteaceae
Leucaena gum
Leucaena leucocephata
Fabaceae
Grewia gum
Grewia mollis
Malvaceae
Balangu gum
Lallemantia royleana
Labiatae
Dillenia fruit gum
Dillenia indica L
Dilleniaceae
Cashew tree gum
Anacardium occidentale
Anacardiaceae
96
A. K. Nayak et al.