Natural gums are polysaccharides of natural origin, capable of causing a large viscosity increase in solution, even at small concentrations. In the food industry they are used as thickening agents, gelling agents, emulsifiers and stabilisers. Most often these gums are found in the woody elements of plants or in seed coatings.

Examples include: (E number food additive code)

• Agar (E406), obtained from seaweed
• Alginic acid (E400), from seaweed
• Beta-glucan, from oat or barley bran
• Carrageenan (E407), from seaweed
• Chicle gum, an older base for chewing gum obtained from the chicle tree
• Dammar gum, from the sap of Dipterocarpaceae trees
• Gellan gum (E418), produced by bacterial fermentation
• Glucomannan (E425), from the konjac plant
• Guar gum (E412), from guar beans
• Gum arabic (E414), from the sap of Acacia trees
• Gum ghatti, from the sap of Anogeissus trees
• Gum tragacanth (E413), from the sap of Astragalus shrubs
• Karaya gum (E416), from the sap of Sterculia trees
• Locust bean gum (E410), from the seeds of the carob tree
• Mastic gum, a chewing gum from ancient Greece obtained from the mastic tree
• Psyllium seed husks, from the Plantago plant
• Sodium alginate (E401), from seaweed
• Spruce gum, a chewing gum of American Indians obtained from spruce trees
• Tara gum (E417), from the seeds of the tara tree
• Xanthan gum (E415), produced by bacterial fermentation

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