Gum arabic , mesk

Gum arabic, also known as gum acacia, chaar gund, char goond or meska, is a natural gum made of hardened sap taken from two species of the acacia tree; Acacia senegal and Acacia seyal. The gum is harvested commercially from wild trees throughout the Sahel from Senegal and Sudan to Somalia, although it has been historically cultivated in Arabia and West Asia. Gum arabic is a complex mixture of polysaccharides and glycoproteins that is used primarily in the food industry as a stabilizer. It is edible and has E number E414. Gum arabic is a key ingredient in traditional lithography and is used in printing, paint production, glue, cosmetics and various industrial applications, including viscosity control in inksgelato-like dessert. and in textile industries, although cheaper materials compete with it for many of these roles. While gum arabic production now stretches throughout the African Sahel, it is still harvested and used in the Middle East. For example, Palestinian Arabs use the natural gum to make a chilled, sweetened, and flavored