Gum Arabic (Senegalia senegal)

Family: Fabaceae | Edibility: Edible (3/5)

Senegalia senegal or Gum Arabic is a small, spiny, deciduous tree native to semidesert regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, Oman, Pakistan, and west coastal India. It is also known in other common names such as Gum acacia, Gum arabic tree, Senegal gum, and Sudan gum arabic. It grows about 5-12 m tall and 30 cm in trunk diameter, with a rounded canopy, short trunk, and low branches.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Nuts/Seeds, Shoots

Harvest Seasons: Early Summer, Fall, Late Summer, Spring, Winter

Flavor & Culinary Uses

flavour fixative. — The gum obtained from the trunk is important in the food industry, where it is used as an emulsifier, stabilizer and flavour fixative.; It is also used as an additive (E414) that retards the crystallization of sugar.; It is found especially in products such as chewing gum and confectionery.; The gum is harvested after the rainy season by scraping it off the trunk and branches from which it oozes.

Habitat & North American Range

Hot, dry regions. Dry scrub and wooded grassland at elevations of 500 - 1,650 metres. (Zone 10)