Biological and textural properties of underutilized exudate gums of Jammu and Kashmir, India

Three different exudate gums were studied for their in-vitro antioxidant activity, functional and textural properties. In-vitro antioxidant activity of the gum exudates was evaluated in terms of DPPH radical scavenging, hydroxyl radical scavenging, reducing power and phenolic content assays. Among the gum exudates, almond gum exhibited maximum DPPH inhibition of 35.52 ± 1.125% followed by apricot gum and gum arabic at the concentration of 1 mg/mL. Gum arabic had significantly higher reducing power than the other exudate gums. For OH (hydroxyl radical) scavenging assay apricot gum gave the highest scavenging activity (58.31% ± 0.25) compared to other gum exudates at the concentration of 10 mg/mL The total phenolic content of the gums followed the order gum arabic > almond gum > apricot gum. All the three exudate gums didn't inhibit the growth of B. subtilis and S. aureus at the concentration of 4 mg/mL. Apricot gum was more efficient against Candida albicans, with an inhibition zone of 19.66 mm, in comparison to gum arabic and almond gum. Solubility of gum exudates varied significantly (p < 0.05) in the range of 23.00 ± 3.53-85.75 ± 0.35%. Almond gum with the least foaming capacity formed highly stabilized foams when compared to rest of the exudate gums. The antioxidant potential of the gums may appreciate their inclusion in wide variety of food systems as functional additives.