Cashew Tree Bark Secretion – Persectives for its Use in Protein Isolation Strategies

ABSTRACT

The use of natural gums, taken from the exudates and extracts of plants, has been given a strong impulse due to both the many and lucrative possibilities for industrialization and to the excellent international market. A gum or resin of a yellowish color, soluble in water, and which presents a great potential for industrialization, appears on the trunk and branches of the cashew tree; that is known mainly for its nuts that are used as a food ingredient. Cashew gum interacts with water and it has emulsifier, adhesive and stabilizer properties, occurring in the form of pale yellow to reddish ambers. In cold water, it swells into a jelly like mass but dissolves rapidly when heated. The resin/gum secretory ducts that appear along the cashew tree bark were studied using histological procedures and microscopic observations. The gum was studied at its crude state and then chemically treated in order to obtain a kind of gel (microbiofilm).