Dammar gum

Natural gum

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, emulsifying agents, and stabilizers...

is obtained from the Dipterocarpaceae

Dipterocarpaceae

Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 17 genera and approximately 500 species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees. The family name, from the type genus Dipterocarpus, is derived from Greek and refers to the two-winged fruit...

 family of trees in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 and East Asia

East Asia

East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...

, principally those of the genera

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Shorea

Shorea

Shorea is a genus of about 196 species of mainly rainforest trees in the family Dipterocarpaceae. The genus is named after Sir John Shore, the Governor-General of the British East India Company, 1793-1798. They are native to southeast Asia, from Northern India to Malaysia, Indonesia and the...

, Balanocarpus or Hopea

Hopea

Hopea is a genus of plant in family Dipterocarpaceae. The genus was named after John Hope, 1725-1786, the first Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh. It contains about 104 species, distributed from Sri Lanka and southern India to southern China, and southward throughout Malesia to...

. Most is produced by tapping trees; however, some is collected in fossil

Fossil

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...

ized form from the ground. The gum

Gum (botany)

Gum is a sap or other resinous material associated with certain species of the plant kingdom. This material is often polysaccharide-based and most frequently is associated with woody plants, particularly under the bark or as a seed coating...

 varies in colour from clear to pale yellow, while the fossilized form is grey-brown. Dammar gum is a triterpenoid

Triterpenoid

Triterpenoids are terpenoid derviatives of triterpene molecules.They may have useful anti-cancer properties.Notable examples*Betulinic acid, possible anti-cancer drug*Bardoxolone methyl, inflammation modulator*Triterpenoid saponins...

 resin

Resin

Resin in the most specific use of the term is a hydrocarbon secretion of many plants, particularly coniferous trees. Resins are valued for their chemical properties and associated uses, such as the production of varnishes, adhesives, and food glazing agents; as an important source of raw materials...

, containing a large number of triterpene

Triterpene

Triterpenes are terpenes consisting of six isoprene units and have the molecular formula C30H48.The pentacyclic triterpenes can be classified into lupane, oleanane or ursane groups.Animal- and plant-derived triterpenes exist, such as:*squalene...

s and their oxidation products.