Manilkara chicle

Chicle is a gum raw material from the white milky sap ( latex) of the fruits of Breiapfelbaums (also Sapodillbaum, Manilkara zapota ) is obtained. The milky sap contains about 20-40 % rubbery, substituted with oligosaccharides Xylanpolymere.

The fabric was used by the Maya as early as 2000 years BC. They knew of the calming effect of steady chewing and chewing on pieces of solidified chicle.

According to legend, the American Thomas Adams received in 1869 chicle of the Mexican politician Antonio López de Santa Anna in the year. He mulled it with rubber to cushion carriage wheels. After this attempt was unsuccessful, Adams came up with the idea to mix the mass with sugar and to let in the form of small spheres sale of his young son as a " chewing gum ". It was the business of his life.

Extraction and processing

The special feature in the recovery of this resource is that the Breiapfelbaum will not be beaten, but tapped by a zigzag incised channel in the bark and the outgoing milky sap is collected. Traditionally called the order involved workers " chicleros ". The main distribution area of this plant are the regions Yucatán, Veracruz and Campeche. As a Mexican main hub is considered the port city of Ciudad del Carmen. Previously, the main export of the merged blocks in latex was primarily in the United States. In addition to Mexico, there was further recovery regions in Guatemala, Colombia, Belize and Venezuela.

Terminology

In the Spanish language, chewing gum is today still referred to as chicle and Portuguese as chiclete. In Turkish, chewing gum is actually called Sakız, but is colloquially called ciklet.