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Review
. 2022 Feb 9;27(4):1171.
doi: 10.3390/molecules27041171.

A Review on the Main Phytoconstituents, Traditional Uses, Inventions, and Patent Literature of Gum Arabic Emphasizing Acacia seyal

Mohamed A Ashour  1   2 , Waseem Fatima  3 , Mohd Imran  4 , Mohammed M Ghoneim  5 , Sultan Alshehri  6 , Faiyaz Shakeel  6
Affiliations
Review

A Review on the Main Phytoconstituents, Traditional Uses, Inventions, and Patent Literature of Gum Arabic Emphasizing Acacia seyal

Mohamed A Ashour et al. Molecules. .

Abstract

Acacia seyal is an important source of gum Arabic. The availability, traditional, medicinal, pharmaceutical, nutritional, and cosmetic applications of gum acacia have pronounced its high economic value and attracted global attention. In addition to summarizing the inventions/patents applications related to gum A. seyal, the present review highlights recent updates regarding its phytoconstituents. Traditional, cosmetic, pharmaceutical, and medicinal uses with the possible mechanism of actions have been also reviewed. The patent search revealed the identification of 30 patents/patent applications of A. seyal. The first patent related to A. seyal was published in 1892, which was related to its use in the prophylaxis/treatment of kidney and bladder affections. The use of A. seyal to treat cancer and osteoporosis has also been patented. Some inventions provided compositions and formulations containing A. seyal or its ingredients for pharmaceutical and medical applications. The inventions related to agricultural applications, food industry, cosmetics, quality control of gum Arabic, and isolation of some chemical constituents (L-rhamnose and arabinose) from A. seyal have also been summarized. The identification of only 30 patents/patent applications from 1892 to 15 November 2021 indicates a steadily growing interest and encourages developing more inventions related to A. seyal. The authors recommend exploring these opportunities for the benefit of society.

Keywords: Acacia seyal; Arabic gum; gum Arabic; invention; patent.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The main phytoconstituents of A. seyal.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Part of the fundamental chain of gum Arabic shows 1-3-linked β-D-galactopyranosyl residues and its main branches. (Gal) β-D-galactopyranose, (Ara) α-l-arabinofuranose, (Rha) α-l-rhamnopyranose, (GlcA) β-D-glucuronic acid, and (mGlcA) 4-O-methyl-β-D-glucuronic acid.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The main monosaccharide residues in gum Arabic: (A) β-D-galactopyranose, (B) α-l-arabinofuranose, (C) α-l-rhamnopyranose, (D) β-D-glucuronic acid, and (E) 4-O-methyl-β-D-glucuronic acid.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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