Persian Gum (Amygdalus scoparia Spach)

This chapter summarizes the existing information with regard to the production, chemical structure, rheological, thermal, surface properties, and potential applications of Persian gum (PG). Similar to the most of the other exudate gums, the natural pH of aqueous dispersions of PG is acidic. Using qualitative high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) measurements, the presence of galactose, arabinose, and rhamnose as the major monosaccharides of whole PG has been confirmed. The effects of concentration, temperature, pH, and ionic strength on the steady and dynamic shear rheological properties are discussed. The chapter describes the interactions of PG and solution fraction of PG (SFPG) with proteins and polysaccharides. The thermal properties of PG have also attracted scientific interest from the standpoint of finding out how its physicochemical characteristics could change during heating and the stability of PG to thermal decomposition by observation of the rate of weight loss using differential scanning colorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).