Gum arabic is a leguminous tree species that is well adapted to sudan and sahalian agro-ecology of Africa. There are over 300 species in this family. Notable among them is Acacia senegal because it produces grade 1 quality gum . Its distribution is localized in Africa.
The gum is obtained as dry exudates from the stem and branches of Acacia senegal and/or Acacia seyal when the plant is injured. The gum has a wide range of industrial uses especially, in areas of feed, textiles and pharmaceutical industries.
In food products, it serves as a stabilizer, emulsifier, and binding agent for chewing gums, ice creams and jams. In pharmaceuticals, the gum is a binder in iozenges,
tablets, pills, throat pastilles and cough drops. In textile industry it is used for fabric stiffening and as a binder for textile printing gums; it is also used in the plastic industry. In miscellaneous industries it is used in producing ink, water colours, paints, carbon papers, pottery glaces etc.
However, the main use of gum arabic remains in confectionery, hard gums, soft gum and gum pastilles.
The majority of Gum Arabic is produced from 17 African countries (14 of which were members of the NGARA network in 2007) in varying quantity and quality.
These countries include: Sudan, Chad,Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger, Senegal, Mali,Mauritania, Burkina Faso, Kenya, Ethiopia,Tanzania, Eritrea, Somalia, Zimbabwe,Uganda and Ghana.
Sudan currently dominates the world market, producing about 80% of the available product. In 1970, the global annual trade involved about 70 000 tons but two serious seasons of drought reduced the amount commercially available to between 20000 and 24000 tons in 1992.
During periods of shortage, several companies invested in equipment to produce alternatives using other hydrocolloids, a factor which negatively and irreversibly affected Gum Arabic trade.
Statistical information on production and exportation are difficult, virtually impossible, to obtain because few producing countries release customs information. It is common knowledge that there is a flow of Gum Arabic at the borders of producer countries but without publications from the custom stations concerned, it is impossible to determine each country’s real contribution to the export market.
Acacia senegal grows best in sandy soils with 200 to 400mm of rain a year, and also in clay soils with 400 to 800mm of rainfall a year.
In Nigeria, the average minimum and maximum temperature in which the plant thrives are 14 C and 40 C, respectively.
Factors to consider before cultivating gum arabic in Nigeria includes land, choice of variety, time of planting, seed rate, seed dressing, spacing and other agricultural practice.
From the above, it is clear that a large and sustainable exist for gum arabic cultivation and production in Nigeria for both local and export market.
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