International Journal of Bioresource Science Citation: IJBS: 3(2): 89-94, December 2016 DOI: 10.5958/2454-9541.2016.00019.0 ©2016 New Delhi Publishers. All rights reserved Quality Requirement and Standards for Natural Resins and Gums S. Srivastava, A. Roy Chowdhury and Nandkishore Thombare Processing and Product Development Div. ICAR-IINRG, Ranchi, India Corresponding author: [email protected] ABSTRACT NRGs are metabolic by-products of plant tissues either in normal course or often as a result of either injury in the bark or wood or disease by insects. Most of the NRGs are plant origin and exudate product from the plant with the exception of lac resin which is secreted by lac insect mainly Kerria lacca. India has wide varieties of trees and plants which exudates Resins and Gums. The natural gums and resins are polymeric, biodegradable and non-toxic in nature. Being biologically originated, they have wide variations in their characteristics and properties. So, quality of the natural resins and gums are to be regulated for application in different sectors. Quality standards of natural resins and gums are to be set by according to national and international regulatory bodies. The quality standards of the natural resins and gums are very useful documents to find their in various novel application areas. Keywords: Natural resins and gums, quality standard, BIS, JECFA standards Natural resins and Gums being biologically scheme is largely based on ISO Guide, which originated do not have uniform quality. The climatic provides general rules for third party certification conditions also influence the quality and yield of system of determining conformity with product the gum produced by the different plant species standards through initial testing and assessment belonging to different locations. Hence, it cannot of a factory quality management. The Joint FAO/ be used as such and is to be subjected to a variety WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) of refining processes to obtain a more purified is an international expert scientific committee end product. It is necessary to test the sample for administered jointly by the Food and Agriculture grading and judge for its quality. Due to increasing Organization and the World Health Organization. emphasis of the bio-safety of the product, quality JECFA serves as an independent scientific committee management is extremely important for application which evaluates food additives, contaminants related to human contact and consumption. Further and naturally occurring toxicants, residues and in the trade a uniform quality is required to be veterinary drugs for their standard specification. supplied, hence, to sustain trade in the country, The Committee also develops principles for the it becomes necessary to test the sample according safety assessment of chemicals in food. to national/international standards like Bureau of The importance of standards may be better Indian Standards (BIS), International Organization appreciated by considering what would happen for Standardization (ISO) specification. in its absence. When a product is made according The BIS operates a product certification scheme, to predefined standards and meets customer and has till date granted more than 30,000 licenses expectations, it is often taken for granted. However, to manufacturers covering practically every in an environment without standards, people would industrial discipline from Agriculture to Textiles very likely voice concerns about poor quality and and Electronics. The BIS product certification unsafe products. The Standard agencies benefit Srivastava et al. end consumers by safeguarding their interests and Structural unit: Guar gum is a galactomannan by ensuring that the products and services they similar to locust bean gum consisting of a (14)-linked purchase are safe and reliable. The BIS and ISO β-D-mannopyranose backbone with branch points ensure fairness and transparency in businesses, from their 6-positions linked to α-D-galactose (i.e. governments and societies. The quality standards 16-linked-α-D-galactopyranose). There are between for natural Resins and Gums, prescribed by the 1.5 - 2 mannose residues for every galactose residue. Standard Agencies are given as follows. Another galactomannan with lower substitution (with a mannose to galactose ratio of about 3:1) is Natural Gums tara gum, obtained from Cesalpinia spinosa. It has True gums are formed from the disintegration of properties between those of guar gum and locust internal plant tissues, mostly from the decomposition bean gum. Higher substituted galactomannans are of cellulose in a process called gummosis. Gums found in fenugreek gum (Trigonella foenum-graecum) contain high amounts of sugar and are closely and mesquite gum (Prosopis juliflora), with mannose allied to the pectins. They are colloidal and soluble to galactose ratio of about 1:1 (but possibly as high in water, either dissolving entirely or swelling, as 5:4) and 5:4 respectively. The higher substitution but they are insoluble in alcohol and ether. They of these gums gives them improved solubility, exude naturally from the stems or in response to dispersiveness and 82 emulsification (although it wounding of the plant. Commercial gums arrive in appears that this emulsification activity is absent in the market in the form of dried exudations. Gums the polysacchaharide but due to protein impurities). are especially common in plants of dry regions. REGULATORY STATUS They are used primarily as adhesives, and are also used in printing and finishing textiles, as a sizing Minimum standards for good quality guar gum for paper, in the paint and candy industries and as have been defined in the United States FCC and drugs. Some important commercial plant gums are by European Union Specifications, E-412 as under: gum arabic, gum ghatti, gum tragacanth and karaya Moisture : 14% max. gum and guar gum as seed gum. Ash (total) : 1.5% max. Guar gum Acid Insoluble Residue : 4% max. Guar gum (also called guaran) is extracted from Galactomannan : 75% min. the seed of the leguminous shrub Cyamopsis Protein : 7% max. tetragonoloba, where it acts as a food and water Arsenic : 3 ppm max. store. Many leguminous plant seeds contain Galactomannans. Guar Gum is known for its Lead : 10 ppm max. thickening properties. It is obtained from the seeds Zinc : 25 ppm max. of Cyamopsis tetragonolobus, an annual leguminous Copper & Zinc : 50 ppm max. plant originating from India and Pakistan. It is also cultivated in the United States. Guar fruit is a pod; Gum Arabic its seeds have an average diameter of about 5 mm. They contain a reserve substance, the albumen. A dried gummy exudate obtained from Acacia From the outside to the interior, we have:the hull, senegal and related acacias. These are small native the albumen or endosperm, which is light cream in trees of arid northern Africa and are extensively colour. It is made up of two hemispherical segments cultivated in the Sudan. The trees are tapped (splits), which surround the germ. Its major between February and May when the fruits are constituent is the polysaccharide, the germ, rich ripe. Transverse incisions are made with a small ax in protein. Interest for Guar Gum is fairly recent: and thin strips of the outer bark are torn off. The its initial development was due to a lack of Locust gum slowly exudes as a viscous liquid, collects in Bean Gum in the 1940s. Its large-scale industrial a drop and hardens. After 3-8 weeks these “tears” production dates from the 1950s. are collected. Gum arabic is slowly and completely soluble in cold water and has a high degree of Print ISSN : 2347-9655 90 Online ISSN : 2454-9541 Quality Requirement and Standards for Natural resins and Gums adhesiveness and viscosity. Most has been used in (v) Acid insoluble matter, per cent by 3 textile, mucilage, paste, polish and confectionery mass (on dry basis), Max industries and as a glaze in painting. In medicine (vi) Volatile acid (as acetic acid), per cent 10 it has been used as an emulsifying agent and as a by mass, Min demulcent. (vii) Swelling property, ml, Min 200 (viii) Water absorption, ml, Min 75 REGULATORY STATUS (ix) Arsenic (as As), mg/kg, Max 3 Characteristic Requirement (x) Lead (as Pb), mg/lkg, Max 10 Loss on drying, percent by mass, Max: (xi) Heavy me’a)s (u Pb) Mg/kg, Max 40 a) Granular material 15 xii) Salmonella Negative (on 1 g) b) Spray dried material 10 (xiii) E. coli Negative Total ash, percent by mass, Max 4 (on 1 g) Acid insoluble ash, percent by mass, Max 0.5 Insoluble matter, percent by mass, Max 1 Gum Ghatti Starch and dextrins To pass the test Tannin-bearing gums To pass the test Gum Ghatti (Indian gum) is a complex polysaccharide Arsenic (as As), mg/kg, Max 3 composed of l-arabinose, d-galactose, d-mannose and d-glucoronic acid residues. The gum has Lead (as Pb), mg/kg, Max 2 been used extensively in recent years both in the Salmonella per g, Max Negative petroleum industry as a drilling mud conditioner E. coli per g, Max Negative and in the explosive industry as a preferential Karaya Gum water absorbent or desiccant. It is used as an emulsifier, stabilizer and thickner in ceramics, foods General: Gum karaya shall be a dried gummy and pharmaceuticals. Ghatti is an amorphous, exudation obtained from the stems and branches translucent, water soluble gum exuded by the tree of Sterculia urens Roxb and S. villosa Roxb fam Anogeissus latifolia of the family combretaceae. Sterculiaceae. The gum has a glassy fracture and occurs in Description: The material shall be a white to amber rounded tears, which are normally less than 1 cm in colour. in the form of tears of variable size or in diameter but more often occurs in larger vermiform broken irregular pieces. It shall possess a slightly masses.