Gum Arabic is the common alias for commercially produced Acacia gum.
Gum Arabic comes from a few sources, but food grade gum comes primarily from Acacia Senegal.
Gliders feed off of Acacia Mearnsii primarily.

Does anyone know of any reasons why it would not be safe to feed gliders this type of Acacia Gum(food grade Gum Arabic from A.Senegal)?

I've browsed many many pages and I personally have come to the conclusion through personal research that food grade Gum Arabic from Acacia Senegal is not dangerous to feed to gliders. I would appreciate any scientific evidence pointing one way or the other.

It just seems to me that since it is such a neutral substance and is used in so many foods and beverages that it must be safe for glider consumption. We unknowingly eat it every day, people also use it as a digestive supplement.

If I'm wrong, I'd love to know, and I'd appreciate it if someone could show me some info on why it isn't safe.
Thanks!

also, I would not even bother with the details if I could find a supplier of Acacia Mearnsii Gum that didn't charge and arm and a leg for their gum..... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/roflmao.gif" alt="" />

Bumpin back up...
No one knows anything?

Here is a link to a thread on WSGN that dealt with the topic.
LINK

I'd really like to see some opinions and some more info if anyone knows about the subject.
Thanks <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumb.gif" alt="" />

I was looking into this too.
The only thing I could find after looking at a whole bunch of websites that mentioned any difference between Gum Arabic and the Australian kind... which comes from the Black Wattle tree (I don't know though if that's the same as A. Mearnsii though...) was that the Australian Gum has tannins in it, where as the Gum Arabic doesn't. Now, I have no idea what tannins are and what role they play but I can't imagine that the lack of tannins would make the Gum Arabic harmful...
I hope that helps!

Hmmm... I agree...

The lack of tannins would not pose a danger. Infact, tannins often may have toxic effects on some organisms. Actually, it's what's responisble for the strong taste when you take a sip of wine or eat a fruit that hasn't ripened.

See, tannins are naturally occurring plant polyphenols that bind and precipitate proteins. They can have a great impact on the nutritive value of food eaten by an organism. Although they occur naturally in fruits/veggies (and in various Acacia gums), they are also existant in zero to insignificant amounts of some food items commonly fed to gliders, i.e. insects, meats, etc. Thus, if Acacia senegal were to be harmful to gliders, I feel that an absence of tannins in the botanical is not the harmful agent.

I still have not been able to find any scientific backing behind the claims that A. Senegal is harmful to gliders. Big_Ern, I checked out those sites posted by Pepony and I failed to find the scientific backup to the conclusion that Arabic Gum is harmful to gliders. Also, I wasn't sure if the he was saying that he himself was conducting the studies with a team, or if he and a team were simply researching from studies done. If it was the former, I really hope he could post here so that we could get more about the issue from him.

Mikey <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dance.gif" alt="" />

Hey thanks for posting guys!

The lack of tannins is the only difference that I've ever seen noted between the two gums, Acacia Senegal and Acacia Mearnsii.

I spoke with a large scale supplier via email and they sent me some more info about their organic Gum Arabic(A.Senegal) and the myriad of uses for it ranging from pharmaceutical to helping beer have more head on it, lol. I'd suspect that it would have to be a very very neutral substance if it were to be used in a pharmaceutical capacity and that it could not have any danger of toxicity if it were to be used in the capacity that it is as a food additive.

Good info about the tannins Mikey <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumb.gif" alt="" />