If you have ever licked a postage stamp, you have licked a wattle....
Wattles are grown for their gum
Gum is eaten by all traditional societies native to acacia areas, it is also used as a glue. In Africa, gum arabic is harvested by artificially wounding the Acacia trees, collecting the tears of gum and transporting them to centres where they are cleaned and processed. Gum arabic is is commonly used as a thickener and emulsifier in prepared food products, confectionary, soft drinks, ice cream, cosmetics, toothpaste, soap, adhesives (eg. postage stamps), paints, ammunition and explosives, polishes, medicinal products, and industrial printing. Acacia senegal from Africa is the world's major source of this very valuable gum arabic.
Wattle gum is a complex polysaccharide and its origin as an exudate is not clear. Many Wattles (e.g. A. microbotrya, Manna Wattle) are capable of producing plentiful quantities of gum. Yum by gum!
Wattles are grown for medicine
The tannin rich inner bark and gums of wattles have therapeutic effects, and this has been known to Indigenous peoples since time immemorial. Bark can alleviate diarrhoea, gums can soothe inflamed skin. The Zulu of Africa use Acacia caffra as an emetic, and give the leaves to their children for tummy troubles.
In more recent times, Gum Arabic has been used as a major component of artificial blood serum. Sap from the phyllodes of the Hawaiin Acacia koa can inhibit Golden Staphylococcus bacteria, and there are recent reports that Acacia victoria in Australia can produce chemicals called triterpenoid saponins that inhibit tumour growth.
