Biofunctional behaviour and health benefits of a specific gum arabic

Gum arabic (GA) is shown to conform to the definitions of dietary fibre, now finally adopted by the European Union and Codex Alimentarius. A non-starch polysaccharide, GA is not digested in the intestine but is fermented in the colon to give short-chain fatty acids, leading to a wide range of potential health benefits. An obstacle to regulatory approval of such health applications could be the wide natural variability of commercial gum arabic which has been demonstrated to change its molecular parameters and functional properties. For this reason, a well characterized and specific gum arabic (Acacia (sen) SUPERGUM™) has been produced, which has guaranteed structural reproducibility. We report here on the studies in vivo and in vitro with this material, which show its compatibility in the diet of patients suffering with diabetes mellitus and reduction in systolic blood pressure, which may translate into improved cardiovascular outcome and a reduction in the progression of renal disease.