Gum arabic

About: Gum arabic is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2197 publications have been published within this topic receiving 47782 citations. The topic is also known as: acacia gum.

Blood plasma proteins as influenced by intravenous injection of gum acacia

Abstract: Lowered plasma protein concentration following single injections of gum acacia in the dog is due in some part to dilution, and in greater part to actual decrease in total circulating protein. The maximum decrease in the total circulating protein does not take place at the same time as the maximum decrease in concentration. Fluctuations in fibrinogen concentration are marked, and are not necessarily proportional to changes in plasma protein concentration. Plasma protein concentration returns to normal limits within 10 to 21 days after the injection, at which time total circulating protein and plasma volume are lower than normal. Loss of protein cannot be accounted for by increase in urinary nitrogen. It is possible to maintain dogs at low levels of plasma protein concentration for several weeks by repeated injections of gum acacia solution. Anatomical changes following such a procedure in a normal dog are most conspicuous in the liver (Fig. A). These observations further implicate the liver as a source of plasma protein. Two mechanisms for the diminution of plasma protein following gum injection are suggested. One of these is based on the possibility that the liver cells being engorged with gum acacia are not able to produce the necessary amount of plasma protein to supply the normal demand. The other possibility is that with the injection of the gum, since there is obviously a greatly increased amount of colloid in the blood, the more readily removable colloid, i.e. plasma protein, is taken out of the blood stream, in an attempt to return plasma volume and colloid osmotic pressure to the normal limits. It is probable that both of these mechanisms are involved. Injection of gum acacia is suggested as a technique for further study of disturbed liver function. It must be obvious that clinical use of gum acacia for intravenous injection is not without danger.

Study of quantitative genetics of gum arabic production complicated by variability in ploidy level of Acacia senegal (L.) Willd

Abstract: Gum arabic is an important international commodity produced by trees of Acacia senegal across Sahelian Africa, but documented results of breeding activities are limited. The objective of this study was to provide reliable estimates of quantitative genetic parameters in order to shed light on the breeding potential for improvement of gum yield and quality. For this purpose, we measured growth on 617 offspring from 60 open-pollinated trees after 18 years, and gum yield and quality based on two seasons, 18 and 19 years after establishment. Genotyping with eight microsatellite markers revealed that progenies consisted of both diploid and polyploid trees, and growth, gum yield, and gum quality varied substantially among ploidy level, populations, and progenies. Analysis of molecular variance and estimates of outcrossing rate supported that trees within open-pollinated families of diploids were half sibs, while the open-pollinated families of polyploids showed low variation within families. The difference in sibling relationship observed between ploidy levels complicated estimation of genetic parameters. However, based on the diploid trees, we conclude that heritability in gum arabic production is low to high with presence of high levels of additive genetic variation, although the genetic parameters could only be estimated with fairly high standard error. The findings suggest that improvement through breeding can increase the productivity of A. senegal substantially. However, the results also stress the importance of testing ploidy levels of selected material and use of genetic markers to qualify the assumptions in the quantitative genetic analysis.