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Natural polysaccharide gum tragacanth, tragacanth or tragacanth is also known in the world as food additive E413. A stabilizer and a powerful thickener – in these qualities, the substance can be contained in food products. It is valued for its natural origin and the absence of danger to humans. However, this valuable substance is used not only for cooking. Astragalus tragacanth resin (namely, this is the name of the type of trees from which the substance is extracted) is also in demand in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries.
Where and how is tragacanth gum mined
The only source of E413 additive is wood. For these purposes, live, growing shrubs of the “tragacanth astragalus” species from the legume family are used. The plant is considered medicinal, and in total about 240 of its subspecies are known in the world. For harvesting gum, only 12-15 of them are of interest. Shrubs are most common in the middle mountains of Southeastern Turkey, in Northwestern and Southern Iran, where a significant part of the entire additive consumed in the world is produced. The plant is also found in Transcaucasia and Turkmenistan.
In the European market of nutritional supplements, two types of gum are considered the most popular: Persian and Anatolian. In Asian countries, Chitral gum is common – it is mined on the border of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Shrubs also grow in the Crimea and Greece, but there are no relatively large enterprises for the extraction of the food additive E413.
The mechanism for obtaining tragacanth is similar to the way birch sap is collected. At the base of the main trunk of the shrub, an incision is made along the bark. Already on the first day, resin gradually begins to ooze out of it, which hardens to a solid state in two or three days in the open air.
The hardened pieces of tree sap are collected and sorted by color: those with a lighter color and transparency are the highest grade gum, which will then go to the needs of the food and pharmaceutical industries. An opaque substance of a darker color will go to the technical industries in the future.
In addition to resin in lumps, the additive is also sold in the form of a powder, which costs several times more than a lump product, since the process of grinding solid resin particles requires a lot of labor and electricity. Grinding takes place in special mortars heated to a temperature of 40 degrees Celsius. The thermal regime in this process plays an important role: a deviation of only 10 degrees upwards will lead to the fact that the valuable resin will darken and become suitable only for technical use.
Characterization of the properties of a substance
Gum tragacanth belongs to polysaccharides. The composition contains a monosaccharide, which swells in water, and tragacanthin, which has the property of solubility in water. Its structure is a mixture of neutral and acidic carbohydrates.
The substance can be in the form of a finely granulated powder, thin small flakes (up to 3 centimeters in length, 0,5-2,5 mm thick), as well as pieces of resin of arbitrary shape. Allowed white, light yellow or cream color for food additives, and reddish or brown – for technical.
In addition to polysaccharides, the composition contains impurities of water, minerals, arabic acid, starch and cellulose. The substance has no smell and taste, in the mouth it leaves a feeling of mucus. It has good solubility in hot water, medium – in organic solvents. It dissolves slightly in cold water, forming a suspension. The additive is resistant to heat and fluctuations in acidity, and with prolonged storage, its viscosity increases.
In the process of manufacturing food products and other goods, E413 is used:
- as a thickener capable of controlling the viscosity of the mixture;
- as a stabilizer that establishes and maintains the desired consistency of the product;
- as an emulsifier, thanks to which it is possible to form mixtures of the “water-oil” and “water-fat” types, which under normal conditions do not form a uniform texture.
Ways to use gum tragacanth
One of the “consumers” of the substance is the food industry. True, the E413 additive is used for the most part in cases where it is not possible to replace it with cheaper analogues (alginates, gelatin, carrageenans). In food products, the content of gum can vary from 5 to 30 g per 1 kilogram of raw materials. The additive is found in the compositions:
- fruit fillings for baking (regulates and maintains their viscosity during heat treatment);
- various sauces and sour mixtures for pouring pastries and pies (works as an emulsifier, preventing the fat and water components from separating into separate layers);
- flavored drinks based on cocoa powder (stabilizes the structure);
- gelling coatings for fruits (E413 is able to create a strong jelly-like film that protects fruits from damage);
- mastics for decorating confectionery;
- canned meat and fish;
- ice cream
In the pharmaceutical industry, the highest grade substance is used in the formulations of ointments, suspensions, and creams. For these forms of drugs, the additive acts as a stabilizer and emulsifier, which makes it possible to obtain a homogeneous stable structure.
Together with gum arabic, gum tragacanth is added to suppositories, as well as to a variety of enveloping anti-inflammatory substances prescribed in complex therapy for the treatment of diseases of the digestive tract. It is used as a binder in tablets, as a thickener for some syrups and elixirs.
The cosmetic industry consumes a small amount of the E413 additive. Commonly used as an emulsifier, it is added to toothpastes, shaving creams, mascaras, skin creams, and hair styling products.
How the substance can affect human health
Food additive E413, despite the naturalness of its origin, did not find significant beneficial properties for humans. It is not broken down in the body and is excreted almost unchanged.
In the quantities in which the component is added to food, it cannot cause any harm to human health. It makes no sense for manufacturers to increase the dosage in the formulation, since gum tragacanth is a very expensive substance that has astringent properties even in very small doses.
There are rare cases of individual intolerance to the element, which manifests itself in the form of nausea and discomfort in the intestines.
It is not recommended to frequently consume products containing the additive for people with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and children.
The substance is not a toxin, an allergen, and did not reveal oncogenic properties during the study.
Types of packaging for additive E413
Since gum is essentially a dry resin, it is suitable for packaging typical of dry bulk goods. Corrugated cardboard boxes or winding cardboard drums with an additional layer of food-grade polyethylene inside are often used. It is also permissible to store and transport the substance in double polypropylene bags, as well as barrels and canisters made of food-grade plastic.
Food additive E413, or tragacanth, is of natural origin and has an extremely low degree of danger to humans. It is expensive, as it is mined and processed using significant labor costs. The substance is also highly valued for its thickening properties, which even a very small amount of gum exhibits. Due to this, there is no need to use high dosages for the manufacture of food and cosmetic products.
The stabilizer and thickener E413 is allowed in the USA, Canada, the European Union, Russia and Ukraine, as well as in most other countries of the world. Scientists, based on the results of various experiments using animals, came to the conclusion that the additive does not pose a danger to living organisms.