International Journal of Chemical, Material and Environmental Research 2014, 2 (2): 10-26 Research article INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL, MATERIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH Studies on some Physicochemical and Rheological Properties of the Plant Gum Exudates of Albizia furriguinea Paul O. Ameh, Umar M. Sani, Elias E. Nwoye Department of Chemistry, Nigeria Police Academy Wudil, Kano State Nigeria (Received: March 17, 2015; Accepted: April 20, 2015) Abstract Gum exudates from Albizia furriguinea have been analyzed for their physicochemical parameters and found to be ionic, mildly acidic, odourless, and yellow in colour. The gum is soluble in water, sparingly soluble in ethanol, and insoluble in acetone and chloroform. The nitrogen (0.53%) and protein (3.498%) contents of the gum are relatively low. The concentra- tions of the cations were found to increase according to the following trend, Mg > Ca > Mn > Fe > Zn > Pb > Cu > Cd. The scanning electron micrograph of the gum revealed that the gum is irregularly shaped and amorphous. Rheological modeling revealed that the viscosities of the gum vary with temperature, pH and concentration (the viscosity of the gum increases with increasing pH and concentration, but decreases with increase in temperature). The apparent activation energy of flow for the gum calculated from Arrhenius-Frenkel-Eyring plot was found to be 4.16 J/mol suggesting the presence of limited inter and intra molecular interaction. Values of intrinsic viscosity obtained from Huggins and Kraemer plots were similar (11.08 and 8.340 dL/g, respectively) while those obtained from Tanglertpaibul and Roa plots ranged from 7.25 to 21.30 dL/g. The study also revealed that the gum has some potential for use as food additives and for other industrial applications. Keywords: Albizia furriguinea, rheology, GCMS, viscosity, physicochemical characterization 1. Introduction Plant gums are obtained as an exudation from fruit, trunk or branches of the trees or after mechanical injury of the plant by incision of the bark, after the removal of the branch, or after invasion by bacteria or fungi [1]. The exudates become hard nodules or ribbons on dehydration to form a protective sheath against microorganisms. These plant products have been col- lected since about 3000 BC, during the Egyptian civilization from Acacia and gum Arabic trees, native to North - Africa and used as adhesive in hieroglyphic paints and in the embalming of Egyptian mummies. Nowadays, gums have been found to have application in the food industry where emulsifying and stabilizing properties are utilized. Gums are also used in the pharmaceutical and medical fields, in addition to other industries (cosmetic, mining, adhesive paints and inks) [2-3]. The complex and heterogeneous nature of plant gums in terms of their chemical composition makes it very difficult to predict their properties. Yet, their industrial application has to be based on well characterized gum samples, i.e. samples whose quality and safety of application can be assured because their physicochemical properties are well-known. The physicochemical properties of a compound are the measurable physical and chemical characteristics by which the compou- * Corresponding author: nocaseoche@yahoo.com Published online at www.ijcmer.org Copyright © 2015 Int. J. Chem. Mater. Environ. Res. All Rights Reserved. An International Open Free Access, Peer Reviewed Research Journal ISSN 2410-5945 2015, Vol. 2, No. 2: pg. 10-26