Scientists reveal new uses for Gum ArabicBy: Ishraga Abas

Khartoum, May (Sudanow.info) - Scientific studies have recently revealednew uses for Gum Arabic , categorizing it as a food product that provides thehuman body with important nutrients and contributes to combating manydiseases.

Scientists have revealed that the Gum Arabic, which we have used as a resinover the years, is actually a food supplement of great importance for the bodyand also a food for the good bacteria as it supports it in the face of harmfulbacteria.

Dr. Isam Siddiq, a Sudanese expert in Gum Arabic and its uses, said thatGum Arabic is a prebiotic material and constitutes an important foodsupplement that provides the body with energy and helps enhancing theperformance of the intestine. Prebiotics are also fed upon by the Prebiotics,the bacteria responsible of discharging the waste, toxins and excess fat fromthe body. Prebiotics also strengthen the immunity system and combat theharmful bacteria. They live in the colon and appendix.

A vital food:

As it has been mentioned before, the only food for these bacteria is theprebiotic which is naturally found in only two types of food and with enoughrates. These two types of food are the mother’s milk (%10) and Gum Arabic(%85). Any lack in these two types results in concentration of these bacteriain the colon, matter which will lead to outbreak of such diseases asconstipation and diarrhea. Today, %40 of the northern hemisphere populationis suffering from constipation and %40 of the southern hemispherepopulation is suffering from intestine disorders.

Dr. Siddiq further pointed to a new fact, affirming that promotion for wheatand barley and their extracts together with beans, lentils and excessive use ofvegetables and industrial juice as Prebiotics have led to spread of diseasessuch as diabetic (one person out of three in the Arab cities) and fatness (oneout of three in the western countries).

The biggest damage has resulted from the people’s excessive use of fibers,the same name

given to the food of the bacteria responsible of discharging the human waste.This was due to the

recommendation made by the western nutrition organizations andpharmaceutical plants for the people to eat at least 25 to 30 grams of fibersdaily, particularly that the consumers are not aware that the Prebiotics arethe ones needed to be excessively used and not the processed fibers of wheatand barley

.

“It is natural for the doctors, whose educational syllabuses do not covernutrition science, to recommend their patients, particularly the one sufferingfrom constipation, diabetic and heart diseases, to increase the use of fiberswithout giving them details. The patient then will not find but the processed

fibers of wheat and barley together with other alternatives such asvegetables”.

Safe material:

Prof. John R. Lopin, the scientific Advisor of the AidGum Foundation, said thatthe Gum Arabic is a resin and at the same time a prebiotic that producesshort-term fatty acid which provides the body with energy and helps inenhancing the function of the intestine.

He added that the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the WorldHealth Organization (WHO) have tested the use and safety of Gum Arabic anddeclared, via a joint committee of experts and the Food ConstitutionAuthority, that the Gum Arabic material is very safe to use.

The World Food Organization’s Constitution Committee published the firstspecification for the Gum Arabic in 1987 and defined Gum Arabic as the Gumof Sudan’s acacia tree, Kordufan’s acacia, according to the SudaneseStandards and Meteorology Organization (SSMO).

The SSMO says that the Gum Arabic has many functional characteristicswhich enhance its addition to the different food materials. The local industryshould be directed to Gum Arabic as an additive. It is a natural material andconstitutes a good alternative for the chemical food additives and can also besued in medical and pharmaceutical industries.

It can further be used at home because it is safe and does not constitute athreat for the consumer. In fact, it has many health advantages andcontributes to treatment of some diseases.

The SSMO also says that the Committee on Food Additives, which belongs tothe Word Food and Agriculture Organization’s Constitution Committee,approves the use of Gum Arabic in the food of medical usage.

Medical advantages:

Prof. Omaima Mohi-eddin Sabir, a pediatrician, said that the medical researchconducted on Gum Arabic have proved that it is effective in treatment ofmany diseases such as the intestine diseases.

She added that it has proved incredibly effective in treatment of sensitive skindiseases, constipation, diarrhea, dryness, nerve colon, diabetic, oestomalaciaof children, hyperactivity, cholesterol and others.

She explained that there were researches in this respect that were conductedat Ahmed Qassim and Ja’far ibn Aouf hospitals in Sudan and at al-Qasr al-Ainiin Egypt that would be presented at the Arab Doctors’ conference, to be heldin Sudan soon.

UstazHamid Al-Amin, a lecturer at the National College, in a study on the medicaluses of Gum Arabic, cited the advantages of Gum Arabic in treatment of otherdiseases such as flu and diarrhea in some African countries. He also reviewedcontribution of Gum Arabic in reducing the infection rates of heart diseasesand cholesterol besides increasing the insulin efficiency.

Contradiction of interests:

Dr. Isam Siddiq says that the international food and pharmaceuticalcompanies, which make trillions of U.S Dollars annually, have worked and stillworking to hide the truth about the Sudanese Gum Arabic and itsdistinguished food and medical characteristics so that the demand for the

Gum Arabic would not increase on one part and their products and highreturns would not be threatened on the other part.

In addition to the Gum Arabic , which has been regarded as the richestnatural source of Prebiotics in the world besides the mother’s milk, there isalso the Insulin which is produced by grand European companies in Belgiumand others where many research have been conducted on it, matter whichmade the World Gastrointestinal Organization (WGO), the InternationalScientific Association of Prebiotics and Prebiotic (ISAPP) and the Food andAgriculture Organization (FAO) to promote for it without the Gum Arabic .

This encouraged the producers of the industrial prebiotic, the insulin (Insulin/FOS/GOS) to recommend using 5 to 10 grams of it daily. When the GumArabic was re-discovered as a prebiotic by the Sudanese Savanna House andthe Italian Dalco, the Savanna house recommended that the adult should usethe minimum limit recommended by the international food and medicinescompanies, i.e. 18 gram per day for the adult above 18 years of age, 12 gramper day for the age category 12-17 and 9 grams per day for those aged 9years and below of their products of Prebiotics. Their circles then intensifiedtheir activities to produce industrial alternatives or produce the prebiotic itselfat the lab and then inject it into yogurt. A counter campaign was launched bythe insulin companies and the western companies which produce suitablefood to carry the Prebiotics to limit the consumption of the Gum Arabic (thenatural prebiotic).

Cheaper:

Dr. Siddiq explains that the price of one ton of the industrial prebiotic powder(the industrial Gum or insulin) ranges between 50000 to 200000 U.S Dollarswhile the ton of the Gum Arabic powder as a resin material does not exceed3000 dollars.

He added that the international demand for the prebiotic powder is not lessthan 20 million tons, adding that the insulin currently covers only one milliontons, which means that there is 19 million tons as gap in prebiotic powder,matter which indicates that the competition is heating up between thecompanies to fill in this gap.

This competition is evident in the fact that grand food companies such asNestle, Danone, and CNI have joined the pioneers of prebiotic producersincluding the Italian Dalco and the Sudanese Savanna House. The recognitionof the Gum Arabic as a natural prebiotic by Britain’s conference in September201 and by Lebanon conference in October 2010 was also among the reasonbehind the heating competition among the different companies. This indicatesthat there are promising investment opportunities and strong competitionover investment in the Gum Arabic sector in Sudan.

Two conference, international companies:

Dr. Siddiq revealed that two international conferences were held duringSeptember 20-24, 2010 on prebiotic and prebiotic. The first was held duringSeptember 20-22, 2010 at the British Roxum city and was organized byscientists of resin chemistry.

He said the scientists have discovered that the Gum Arabic was not just aresin material but almost a complete food material because it is a dual soulfood for both man and the living bacteria. This was revealed in tow papers,the first, title “Gum Arabic , a Dual Soul Food” presented to the conferenceby the Sudanese Savanna House , and the second, titled “Gum Arabic , a

prebiotic for Health”, presented by the English Kerry Company . Most of thepapers presented in the conference focused on the uses of Gum Arabic.

However, the second conference, he said, was convened during September22-24 in Sharm-Eshiekh in Egypt and was organized by the pediatricians.

Ironically, big child food companies participated in the conference wheremore than four papers were presented focusing on the natural and industrialsources of prebiotic without mention the Gum Arabic.