Abstract ................................................................................................. 264 14.1 Introduction .................................................................................. 264 14.2 Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Applications ............................. 268 14.3 Food Applications ........................................................................ 274 14.4 Acknowledgment ......................................................................... 280 Keywords .............................................................................................. 280 References ............................................................................................. 281

GUM ARABIC: A REMARKABLE BIOPOLYMER FOR FOOD AND BIOMEDICAL APPLICATIONS ADRIANA P. GEROLA1, ADLEY F. RUBIRA2, EDVANI C. MUNIZ2,3, AND ARTUR J. M. VALENTE4,*

1Chemistry Department, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina 88040-900 Brazil 2Chemistry Department, Maringá State University, Maringá, Paraná 87020-900 Brazil 3Postgraduate Program on Materials Science and Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Paraná (UTFPR-LD), Londrina Paraná 86036-370 Brazil 4CQC, Department of Chemistry, University of Coimbra, 3004-535 Coimbra, Portugal*

*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Gum Arabic (GA or Acacia Gum) is a polysaccharide obtained from acacia trees. Although some of its properties and applications have been known for centuries, due to its remarkable multifunctional properties, GA still has a high and increasing demand, in particular for food additives, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, printing, and textile industries. In this chapter, we will focus on the work carried out involving GA in the last 4 years, with a particular emphasis for applications related to biomedical/pharmaceutics and food industries.