STUDIES ON CERTAIN CHINESE ACACIA GUMS

Three plants, Acacia farnesiana Willd., A. decurrens Willd. var. mollis Lind. and A. decurrens Willd., growing in the southern tropical China were found to exude gums somewhat similar to the imported Acacia gum produced in Africa. The morphology, habit and distribution of the above plants were discribed in detail with illustrations. Gum samples collected from five districts, viz. (1) Fukien (A. decurrens var. mollis), (2) Hainan (ditto), (3) Cheli or Yunjinghung, Yunnan (A. farnesiana), (4) Kunming, Yunnan (A. decurrens) and (5) Kweiling, Kwangsi (ditto), were determined for their viscosity, suspending power and emulsifying ability respectively and compared with that of the imported Acacia gum. The results showed that (1) the viscosities of the Fukien, Hainan and Cheli gums are greater than that of the imported gum; (2) the suspending power of Hainan and Fukien gums are greater than that of the imported gum; (3) emulsions prepared with the Hainan and Cheli gums have smaller and more homogeneous globles than that prepared with the imported gum. The emulsions prepared with Hainan and Fukien gums are the most stable. It is therefore concluded that the Hainan and Fukien gums obtained from Acacia decurrens var. mollis and the Cheli gum obtained from A. farnesiana are superior or similar to the imported Acacia gum in viscosity, suspending power and emulsifying ability, the chief defect of the former gums being darker in colour.