Page 5 - NRG of commercial importance

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Inftoduction U.S. Food and Drug Administxation for use
in food and pharmaceuticals. The present day
Resins and gums occupy a prime place among
uses of natural gums and resins are numerous
Non-V/ood Forest Produce (NWFP), and are
and they are employed by a large number of
known to mankind since rime immemorial.
manufacturing industies including food and
These are perhaps the most widely used and
pharmaceutical industries. Some of the plant
naded NWFP's other than iterns consumed
based gums and resins of commercial
directly as food, fodder and medicine. Use of
importance are presented here.
gums and resins for domestic consumption
and sale to earn some cash is very common Natural Resins
among the forest dwelling communities,
Resin secretion occurs in special cavities or
particularly nibals in India. Thousands of
passages in many plant species. They are
forest dwellers particulafi in the central and
formed in the specialized structures called
western Indian states depend on gurns and
ducts. Resins exude or ooze out fiom the bark
resins as a viable source ofincome.
ofthe trees and tend to harden on exposure to
Resins and gums are metabolic by-products of air. With the exception of lac, which is
plant tissues either in normal course or often produced by the lac insect (Kerria l,acca), all
as a resulgof disease or injury to the bark or othet natural resins are of plant origin.
wood of certain plants. There are a large Natural resins ofparticular importance to the
number of rees in India which exude gums furniture coatings are rosin, damar, copal,
and resins. Some of these are of local or sandarac, amber, and manila.
limited interest, while a few are used
. The principa I characreristics ofresins are:
extensively all over India and also entered the
export trade of the country. Annual average r They are insoluble in water.
export of gum & resin during 2001.02 to r They are soluble in ordinary solvents like
2005.06 was Rs ?,848 million. This included alcohol, ether and turpentine.
Rs 1,371 million of resins and Rs 6,363 o They are brittle, amorphous and are
million of gums. The gums and gum-resins of
transparent or semi-transparent.
commercial importance collected from the
o They have a chatacteristics luster, are
forest are gum karaya, gum ghatti, salai gum,
ordinarily fusible and when ignited,
guggul, and gums ftom various species of
resins burn with a smoky flame.
Acacia, including Indian gum arabic ftom
Acacia nilntica and mre gum arabic from A. NaturalGums
senegal. The important commercial resins are
Gums are a group of plant products, formed
obtained ftom Pinaceae (rosin, amber),
primarily due to the disintegration of plant
Leguminosae (copal) and Dipterocarpaceae
cellulose. This process is known as gummosis. o
(dammar) farnilies.
Gums are produced by members of a large
The uses of natural gums and resins in food, number of families but commercial
medicines and in varnishes or as protecrive exploitation is restricted to a few ftee species
coatings go back to very early times. Certain of Leguminosae, Sterculiaceae and
natural gums and resins are approved by the Combretaceae families. The important gum I

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