Product Profiles: Gum Arabic

Description: Gum Arabic (Acacia Senegal) Gum Acacia, also known as Gum Arabic, is a natural gum harvested from the exterior of Acacia trees in the form of dry, hard nodules up to 50 mm in diameter, and ranging from almost colourless to brown. Its unique properties endow it with a wide range of uses in food, beverage, pharmaceutical and industrial applications. There are over 1,100 Acacia species worldwide. However Acacia Senegal and Acacia Seyal are the most commercially exploited species. Nigeria has three grades of Gum Arabic; 
Acacia Senegal (grade 1) 
Acacia seyal (Grade 2)and 
Combretum (Grade 3).
The major Acacia utilized for commercial Gum Arabic production in Nigeria are Acacia Senegal and Acacia seyal. Nigeria is the 2nd largest producer of the crop in the world after Sudan with average production of 20,000 metric tonnes of all grades of Gum Arabic. In the year 2004, world production of Gum Arabic was put at 70,000 metric tonnes while Nigeria's production amounted to 18,935 metric tonnes with export earnings of US$88.08 million.

Harvest: Gum Arabic is harvested during the dry season because during the rainy season, no gum is formed since the trees are in full bloom. The dry season lasts from October to June and the gum is collected every 10 days during this period. After collection, the gum is brought from the farms and stands to villages from there it’s transported to market

Locations: Production of Gum Arabic covers 14 States of the Federation namely Borno, Yobe, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Taraba, Plateau, Adamawa, Sokoto, Kebbi, Katsina, Zamfara, Nasarawa and Niger with an estimated population of 4 million Nigerians engaged in its cultivation and trade.

Specifications:

Features	% percentage
Purity	98%min
Moisture	10-12%max
Total Ash	4-6%
Acid Insoluble residue	0.4% max
Starch	Negative
Tannin Bearing Gums	Negative
Salmonella	Negative
E. Coli	Negative

Uses: Gum Arabic is used as thickener, suspender, emulsifier, stabilizer, flavour carrier, binder and encapsulating material. In addition, it is used in confectionaries, food, beverages, pharmaceuticals and chemical industries.

Export market: The major markets for the product are: Belgium, China, USA, U.K and Japan.

Export Price:

Grades	FOB price /MT
Grade I	USD2,800-3,200
Grade II	USD1,850-2,200
Grade III	USD900-1,100

Local price: The local price of gum Arabic ranges from about N100,000 in dry season during the harvest to about N250,000/MT in the rainy season, depending location of purchase, the grade and the period during its season.