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.

Effect of Gum Arabic on Liver Function And Antioxidant Enzymes of Sprague-Dawley Rats

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of twelve weeks Gum Arabic dose on the liver functions and some antioxidant enzymes activity of 10 Sprague-Dawley rats. Methods: 10 normal Sprague-Dawley rats were fed one liter 10% of gum Arabic solution daily for 12 weeks. As a control group another 10 rats were not fed with gum Arabic. On week twelve, blood samples were collected from each rat and all of them were killed and the liver was obtained. Some of the liver was homogenized and the supernatant was collected. The liver function tests (direct bilirubin, total bilirubin, albumin, total proteins, Asparate transaminase, alanine transaminase and alkaline phosphatase) were done using the blood samples and the supernatant of the homogenized liver was used to detect the activity of superoxide dismutase and catalase and to measure the concentration of glutathione and Malondialdehyde (MDA). Results: the comparison of the mean values of the liver function tests showed the absence of significant variation between the liver function tests in the control and the gum Arabic fed rats. Concerning the antioxidant parameters, there was significant increase in the superoxide dismutase (p-value≤ 0.000), catalase (p-value= 0.043), glutathione (p-value= 0.004) and significant decrease in the MDA concentration (p-value≤ 0.000). Conclusion: Daily gum Arabic dose for twelve weeks significantly affected the liver antioxidant activity of Sprague-Dawley rats.

Mechanism of Cooperative Degradation of Gum Arabic Arabinogalactan Protein by Bifidobacterium longum Surface Enzymes

Abstract: Terminal galactose residues of the side chain of gum arabic arabinogalactan protein (AGP) are mainly substituted by α1,3/α1,4-linked Araf and β1,6-linked α-l-Rhap-(1→4)-β-d-GlcpA residues. This study found a multidomain BlArafE with GH43_22 and GH43_34 catalytic domains showing cooperative action for degrading α1,3/α1,4-linked Araf of the side chain of gum arabic AGP. ABSTRACT Gum arabic is an arabinogalactan protein (AGP) that is effective as a prebiotic for the growth of bifidobacteria in the human intestine. We recently identified a key enzyme in the glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 39, 3-O-α-d-galactosyl-α-l-arabinofuranosidase (GAfase), for the assimilation of gum arabic AGP in Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum. The enzyme released α-d-Galp-(1→3)-l-Ara and β-l-Arap-(1→3)-l-Ara from gum arabic AGP and facilitated the action of other enzymes for degrading the AGP backbone and modified sugar. In this study, we identified an α-l-arabinofuranosidase (BlArafE; encoded by BLLJ_1850), a multidomain enzyme with both GH43_22 and GH43_34 catalytic domains, as a critical enzyme for the degradation of modified α-l-arabinofuranosides in gum arabic AGP. Site-directed mutagenesis approaches revealed that the α1,3/α1,4-Araf double-substituted gum arabic AGP side chain was initially degraded by the GH43_22 domain and subsequently cleaved by the GH43_34 domain to release α1,3-Araf and α1,4-Araf residues, respectively. Furthermore, we revealed that a tetrasaccharide, α-l-Rhap-(1→4)-β-d-GlcpA-(1→6)-β-d-Galp-(1→6)-d-Gal, was a limited degradative oligosaccharide in the gum arabic AGP fermentation of B. longum subsp. longum JCM7052. The oligosaccharide was produced from gum arabic AGP by the cooperative action of the three cell surface-anchoring enzymes, GAfase, exo-β1,3-galactanase (Bl1,3Gal), and BlArafE, on B. longum subsp. longum JCM7052. Furthermore, the tetrasaccharide was utilized by the commensal bacteria. IMPORTANCE Terminal galactose residues of the side chain of gum arabic arabinogalactan protein (AGP) are mainly substituted by α1,3/α1,4-linked Araf and β1,6-linked α-l-Rhap-(1→4)-β-d-GlcpA residues. This study found a multidomain BlArafE with GH43_22 and GH43_34 catalytic domains showing cooperative action for degrading α1,3/α1,4-linked Araf of the side chain of gum arabic AGP. In particular, the GH43_34 domain of BlArafE was a novel α-l-arabinofuranosidase for cleaving the α1,4-Araf linkage of terminal galactose. α-l-Rhap-(1→4)-β-d-GlcpA-(1→6)-β-d-Galp-(1→6)-d-Gal tetrasaccharide was released from gum arabic AGP by the cooperative action of GAfase, GH43_24 exo-β-1,3-galactanase (Bl1,3Gal), and BlArafE and remained after B. longum subsp. longum JCM7052 culture. Furthermore, in vitro assimilation test of the remaining oligosaccharide using Bacteroides species revealed that cross-feeding may occur from bifidobacteria to other taxonomic groups in the gut.

INDIAN TEXTILES AND GUM ARABIC IN THE LOWER SENEGAL RIVER: Global Significance of Local Trade and Consumers in the Early Nineteenth Century

Abstract: ABSTRACT:This article proposes to give a new answer to one of the central questions in African and global economic histories: how West Africa contributed to economies outside the region. Recent studies have highlighted that consumers played a significant role in the processes of trade and production. The article combines this consumer-led perspective with a new set of quantitative and qualitative data. Trade figures drawn from the British and French trade statistics reveal the peculiar demand for Indian indigo-blue cotton textiles, called guinées, in Senegal compared with other regions of West Africa in the early nineteenth century. This finding revises Joseph Inikori's argument about the triumph of British cottons in West Africa. Subsequently, this article places the consumption of guinées within the wider context of commercial networks in the trade in gum arabic in the lower Senegal River region and analyzes the social and ecological factors that underpinned the persistent demand for guinées among local consumers, taking into account the continuation of local textile production in West Africa. In so doing, this article argues that consumer behavior in Senegal mattered not only for the gum trade and but also conditioned a part of global trade networks that extended from South Asia through Western Europe and reached Africa in the early nineteenth century.