Let's start from the beginning, what is and how is Arabic gum produced?
Arabic gum is the dried gummy exudate produced spontaneously, or obtained by tapping the trunk of Senegalese Acacia, commonly known as Acacia verek (Leguminosae family).
How does this relate to winemaking?
The genus Acacia includes more than 900 species, however, from an oenological point of view, two species are the ones to consider, namely Acacia seyal, whose gum is commonly known as Talha, and Acacia senegal (otherwise known as verek), whose gum is called Hashab. These two species are typically produced in Sub-Saharan Africa (Senegal and Chad)
So, different origin means also different effects?
They have many differences; starting from the behavior of Arabic gum solutions to polarized light - in fact, Acacia senegal is levorotatory, while Acacia seyal is dextrorotatory - to the way the exudate dries. And the differences only increase when applied to winemaking. Historically, levorotatory gums obtained from Acacia senegal are not filterable and this worried many winemakers because to use it they would have to add it post micro-filtration, which represents a risk for contamination.
Then, what is the real advantage of the levorotatory Arabic gum solutions...
Winemakers spend around 10% of their budget on enzymes, many of whom are to extract and improve the color of their wines, but surprisingly they rely only on wood barrels - or alternatives - to stabilize it! completely ignoring one of the best and easiest resources they have available: gum solutions extracted from Acacia senegal.
But what about the filterability of the wines added of levorotatory Arabic gums?
Historically, levorotatory gum arabic obtained from Acacia senegal is not filterable. However, thanks to its know-how, Enologica Vason has managed to create two perfectly filterable levorotatory gum arabic solutions, ICON® GUM and SMARTGUM®, 100%obtained from Acacia senegal, which are highly effective on all the wines they are added. What makes SMARTGUM® unique is the absence of sulfur dioxide: the gum is stabilized through an alternative process controlled by a VASONGROUP state-of-the-art system, designed and developed to produce gum arabic solutions. The system allows for full process and product quality control, from raw material procurement to the finished product.