Chemical and physicochemical characterizations of the water-soluble fraction of the Commiphora Africana exudate

The present study focuses on the chemical and physical characterization of the water-soluble fraction of the Commiphora Africana exudate. The chemical analysis proved that this fraction is mainly composed of carbohydrates and hydrophobic amino acids. Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) revealed the presence of three distinct polysaccharide populations that are all bonded to protein. In addition, both SEC and rheology demonstrated that the gum owns highly compact structure that suggests an AGP-like polymer. Commiphora Africana gum exhibits excellent surface activity at concentration 2 orders of magnitude lower than the reference, acacia gum and was attributed to the fact that the three populations contribute to the surface tension lowering. This remarkable property has been confirmed by preliminary experiments on model emulsions and suggests a very promising application in formulation.