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Article: Hydrocolloid Applications: Gum Technology in the Food and other Industries.
- Article from:
- Chemistry and Industry
- Article date:
- June 1, 1998
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1998 Society of Chemical Industry. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A Nussinovitch London: Chapman & Hall 1997 Ppxv+354, [pounds]79, ISBN 0 412 62120 7
Herodotus, writing in the 5th century BC, refers to the use of gum to secure bandages around the corpses of mummified bodies. Indeed, the ancient Egyptians used natural polysaccharide gums as adhesives and fillers, and as binding agents for paint. Natural sources included gum arabic (Acacia spp.), gum tragacanth (Astragalus spp.) and possibly others such as tamarind gum (Tamarinus spp.). The evidence for this comes as much from the analysis of archaeological remains by analytical organic chemists as from the reading of ancient historians.
The antiquity of utilisation is not ...