Abstract

A gum resin was isolated from Commiphora africana. In order to assess its application to industry, it was subjected to rheological, moisture and ash content studies. For rheological studies, a rotational viscometer which had the ability to characterize both Newtonian and non-Newtonian systems was used. The gum resins from C. africana exhibited low shear stress even at high concentration of the gum resins. The change in shear stress with temperatures produced almost a linear graph with a gradient of 0.06. In addition, the gum resin from this plant species was affected by the addition of salts and would have little application in formulations that contain salts. The moisture content obtained was 10.6±0.04%.The low level of moisture in this gum resin appeared to be desirable since it will attract little bacterial or fungal growth in the formulation. The ash content was 3.64±0.01%. The present study has demonstrated that this gum has potential as a product for the cosmetic, pharmaceutical and food industries provided further studies are carried out to identify the phytoconstituents in the gum as well as toxicity studies.

Key words: Commiphora Africana, gum, rheology, moisture, shear stress, ash content, pharmaceuticals, food industry.