187
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
A. Gani, B. A. Ashwar (eds.), Food biopolymers: Structural, functional
and nutraceutical properties, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27061-2_8
Dietary Gums
Prakhar Chatur, Umar Shah, Asir Gani, Mudasir Ahmad, Adil Gani,
and Zakir Khan
Introduction
The diverse properties, applications and safety of natural gums make their widespread use in food and pharmaceutical industries that include their safe oral consumption in the form of food additives (thickeners, emulsifiers, sweeteners etc.), as
binders and drug release modified gums (drug carriers) in pharmaceutical dosage
forms. Natural gums are polysaccharides obtained usually as plant exudates. They
contain various sugars other than glucose and having significant quantities of oxidized groups in adjunct to their normal polyhydroxy format. The polysaccharide
gums are considered to be one of the best abundant industrial raw materials due to
their sustainability, biodegradability and safety. The phenomenon of uncontrolled
rates of hydration, pH dependent solubility, thickening, drop in viscosity on storage,
and the possibility of microbial contamination are some problems associated with
the use of natural gums. Furthermore, interaction of materials with mucosal layer of
the gastrointestinal tract, nasal pathway or airway is known as mucoadhesion. Many
polysaccharides do possess mucoadhesive properties and their use for specific oral
drug delivery has been identified by many investigators by modifying them (Rana
et al. 2011). The use of modified gums for microencapsulation has increased in the
nutraceutical industry. The structures of polysaccharides or dietary gums are modified/derivatized by various methods that involves attachment of wide variety of
P. Chatur · U. Shah
School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
M. Ahmad · A. Gani · A. Gani (*)
Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Kashmir,
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Z. Khan
Islamic University of Science and Technology, Awantipora, Jammu and Kashmir, India
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
A. Gani, B. A. Ashwar (eds.), Food biopolymers: Structural, functional
and nutraceutical properties, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27061-2_8
Dietary Gums
Prakhar Chatur, Umar Shah, Asir Gani, Mudasir Ahmad, Adil Gani,
and Zakir Khan
Introduction
The diverse properties, applications and safety of natural gums make their widespread use in food and pharmaceutical industries that include their safe oral consumption in the form of food additives (thickeners, emulsifiers, sweeteners etc.), as
binders and drug release modified gums (drug carriers) in pharmaceutical dosage
forms. Natural gums are polysaccharides obtained usually as plant exudates. They
contain various sugars other than glucose and having significant quantities of oxidized groups in adjunct to their normal polyhydroxy format. The polysaccharide
gums are considered to be one of the best abundant industrial raw materials due to
their sustainability, biodegradability and safety. The phenomenon of uncontrolled
rates of hydration, pH dependent solubility, thickening, drop in viscosity on storage,
and the possibility of microbial contamination are some problems associated with
the use of natural gums. Furthermore, interaction of materials with mucosal layer of
the gastrointestinal tract, nasal pathway or airway is known as mucoadhesion. Many
polysaccharides do possess mucoadhesive properties and their use for specific oral
drug delivery has been identified by many investigators by modifying them (Rana
et al. 2011). The use of modified gums for microencapsulation has increased in the
nutraceutical industry. The structures of polysaccharides or dietary gums are modified/derivatized by various methods that involves attachment of wide variety of
P. Chatur · U. Shah
School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
M. Ahmad · A. Gani · A. Gani (*)
Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Kashmir,
Srinagar, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Z. Khan
Islamic University of Science and Technology, Awantipora, Jammu and Kashmir, India