Differential thermal studies on plant gums

✍ Scribed by Kulshrestha, V. K.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1962
• Weight: 933 KB
• Volume: 58
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-3832
• DOI: 10.1002/pol.1962.1205816649

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Differential thermal analysis studies have been done on nine different gums belonging to different families and genera and differing in their chemical constituents and structure, along with their respective gum acid and hydrolysis products. The gums studied include gum sterculia urens, gum azadirechta indica, gum acacia catechu, gum limmonia accidissma, gum lannea grandis, gum anogesius latifolia, gum acacia leucopholea, gum prosopis galandulosa, and gum swietenia mahagony. Certain reactions take place when these substances are heated uniformly to an elevated temperature, which are manifested in the form of endothermic or exothermic peaks depending on the nature of the reaction. These are due to the removal of the adsorbed moisture, the removal of the structural (OH) groups with the elimination of water and CO~2~, partial decomposition of the gum followed by a rearrangement of the molecule, etc. The thermograms so obtained are quite distinct from each other and afford a “finger print” device in the identification and characterization of these substances. The DTA studies have been further correlated with infrared studies and these support the views already expressed.