Astragalus gossypinus exudates (Iranian gum tragacanth) were
collected from plants growing in the Isfahan province of Iran. The
raw gum was ground and sieved. Powdered gum with a mesh size
between 200 and 500 mm was used in this study. The powder
composition was (g/100): 12.94 þ 0.12% moisture, 0.31 þ 0.01%
protein, 2.2% ash and 84.55% carbohydrate (primarily 37% galacturonic
acid, 32% xylose and 23% fucose) (Balaghi et al., 2010).
Sodium caseinate salt from bovine milk (lot 100M0130V) was
purchased from SigmaeAldrich Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO, USA)
for use in this study.