Caracterização físico-química de diferentes gomas naturais da Albizia lebbeck L. extraídas no Cariri Paraibano.

Abstract

The natural gums are widely used in the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Until 2012, the cost of importing Brazil into gum arabic was US $ 5.8 million, a figure considered high considering that the country has gum species, substitutes with the potential to replace gum arabic. In this sense, the objective of the work was to characterize the physico-chemical properties of the resin of Albizia lebbeck planted in the semi-arid Paraíba. For this, analyzes of parameters such as moisture, specific mass, viscosity, ash content and organic carbon were made, differentiating the samples A, B and C by the natural exposure time, in order to emphasize the differences between them in the oxidation level. In the humidity parameter, sample C showed a similar value to gum of the angico, as well as specific mass values compatible with gum arabic, with viscosity to gum ratio is classified in the category of low viscosity gums. The samples showed low ash content, with samples B and C being highlighted in relation to sample A. With the large area of Albizia lebbeck cultivation in the Brazilian Northeast, the resin extracted from this crop would be a great alternative for aggregation of value, considering that this co-product could increase foreign exchange in foreign trade and reduce the import of gum arabic. KEY WORDS: Albizia gum, arabica gum, biodiversity.