CHARACTERIZATION AND EMULSIFICATION PROPERTIES OF Acacia oerfota GUM AND IT IS BLENDS

Abstract

The physiochemical properties of Acacia Senegal and Acacia nubica (new name A. oerfota) gums were studied. They include; moisture, ash, nitrogen hence the protein, solubility test, tannin content, total soluble fiber, intrinsic viscosity, specific optical rotation, the pH value, acid equivalent weight and accordingly the uronic acid. The molecular weight of the samples was estimated using osmotic pressure measurment. The value of number average molecular weight (M n) of A. nubica was found to be 4.4. The high molecular weight and, high water solubility suggest a highly branched structure; (the molecular weight of A. senegal is 2.2). The cationic composition of Acacia nubica was determined and the result showed that Calcium was the most abundant cation in the samples (17.691 ppm) followed by Potassium (10.917 ppm), Magnesium (6.099 ppm), Sodium (5.818 ppm), Manganese ( 0.161 ppm), Lead (0.0883 ppm), Iron (0.0752ppm), and Copper ( 0.0135ppm). Emulsification studies show that Acacia gums (A. nubica, A. senegal) possess good emulsifying activities and stability, however the emulsifying stability of the emulsion of nubica gum is less than that of A. senegal gum. Blends of Acacia nubica with Acacia senegal were investigated and it was found that a mixture containing 50% A. nubica: 50% A. senegal produced blends having better emulsifying stability compared to other blends of gums.