Gum Arabic: Tapped from the Acacia, Dried in the Air

Gum arabic is the hardened gum that oozes from gum acacias. Strip small pieces of bark from the branches and a clear mucilage oozes out, hardening in the air into rounded tears. Andrew Ure (1839) notes gum Senegal was gathered in November; the tears dissolve in water and bind watercolours and inks. The picture: raw gum arabic tears of different grades and the ground powder.

مبتدئ

A few weeks on the tree

التعليمات

Tap the tree

On a mature gum acacia, strip narrow pieces of bark from the branches with the tapping knife, without cutting into the wood.

المواد لهذه الخطوة:

شجرة الهشاب (Senegalia senegal)1 قطعة

الأدوات المطلوبة:

سكين التشريط

فأس صغيرة

Let the tears harden

Leave the tree. Gum oozes from the wounds and hardens in the air into rounded tears, often hollow on one side.

Pick and sort

Pick the hard tears into a basket. Spread them on mats in the sun, which bleaches them (Ure), and sort out bark and dark pieces; the clearest, palest tears are best.

الأدوات المطلوبة:

سلة

حصيرة مضفورة

ميزان ذو كفّتين

Powder and store

The tears are brittle: crush them in a mortar and sift for a powder that dissolves quickly. Keep in a dry, closed jar.

الأدوات المطلوبة:

هاون ومِدَقّ

غربال

مرطبان زجاجي

Gum to binder

جارٍ تحميل دفتر Jupyter…

Limits

Tapping and the gum's properties are from Wikipedia and Ure; the sorting and the solution strength are ours. The sources give no fixed waiting time between tapping and picking.