Tragacanth facts for kids

Tragacanth is a special natural gum. It comes from the dried sap of certain plants in the Astragalus family. These plants are mostly found in the Middle East. Some common names for these plants are "goat's thorn" or "locoweed." The gum itself is sometimes called Shiraz gum or gum dragon. The name "tragacanth" comes from two Greek words: tragos, meaning "goat," and akantha, meaning "thorn." Iran is the world's largest producer of this gum.

Gum tragacanth is a thick, sticky substance that doesn't have a smell or taste. It can dissolve in water. It's made of natural sugars called polysaccharides. This gum comes from the sap that drips from the plant's roots and then dries. The sap dries into twisted ribbons or flakes, which can then be ground into a powder. When this powder mixes with water, it soaks it up and turns into a gel. This gel can then be stirred into a paste.

What Tragacanth Is Used For

Tragacanth has many different uses because of its special properties.

Making Things Smooth and Strong

The gum is used when working with leather that has been tanned with plants. It helps make the edges of leather smooth and shiny. It's also sometimes used to make fabrics stiffer.

Helping People Feel Better

For a long time, tragacanth was used as a natural medicine. People used it to help with things like coughs and diarrhea. Powders made with tragacanth were sometimes called "diatragacanth." When made into a paste, it was also put on burns to help them heal.

In Food and Medicine

Tragacanth is often found in medicines and foods. It works as an emulsifier, which helps mix ingredients that normally don't blend, like oil and water. It's also a thickener, a stabilizer, and an additive that changes the texture of food. You might see it listed as E413 on food labels.

For Artists and Bakers

Artists use gum tragacanth as a binder when they make pastels. It's good for this because it doesn't stick to itself once it's dry, unlike other gums. Bakers also use it in sugarcraft. They make a paste from it to create realistic-looking flowers on wires for cake decorations. These decorations dry hard and can be colored. This gum helps them make very fine and delicate designs.

Other Interesting Uses

In the Middle East, especially in Turkey, gum tragacanth is used in paper marbling. This is an art where patterns are made by floating colors on a special liquid. The gum helps create the right surface for the colors to float on.

Tragacanth is also used when making incense. It acts as a binder, holding all the powdered herbs together. Because it dissolves in water, it's easy to work with and helps the ingredients spread evenly. It's a strong binder, so you don't need as much of it compared to other gums like gum arabic.

Tragacanth in Food

You might find tragacanth in some foods, especially in Indian cuisine.

In Indian Cooking

In India, it's known as "Goond Kateera" or "Gond Katira." "Goond" means "glue" or "tree sap" in Hindi. So, it means "tree sap of Kateera." It's used in a special dish from Jammu and Kashmir called sundh.

In Lozenges

The menthol lozenges called Fisherman's Friend also contain gum tragacanth as an ingredient.

Images for kids

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  Astragalus gummifer

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  A dish of Tragacanth

See also

In Spanish: Goma tragacanto para niños