Changes

The nutritive value for livestock of young shoots, green pods and seeds respectively is as follows: crude protein 20%, 22% and 39%, crude fibre 28%, 39% and 21% and nitrogen-free extract 42%, 31% and 26%. The leaves contain 10–13%, the pods 15% digestible protein. The wood is dark to almost black, heavy and hard and can be polished well. It is termite resistant. The energy value of the wood is about 13,400 kJ/kg.

Gums from other acacias, and sometimes from ''Albizia'' and ''Combretum'', are also marketed as gum arabic. Although regulations for the admission of gum arabic no longer distinguish between gums from ''Acacia senegal'' and ''Acacia seyal'', and although the gum of ''Acacia seyal'' is most often marketed as gum arabic, its properties are inferior to those of the gum from ''Acacia senegal''. In exports from Sudan, the distinction is clearly made: gum from ''Acacia senegal'' is marketed as ‘gum hashab’, while gum from ''Acacia seyal'' is sold under the name ‘gum talha’. In Zimbabwe, gum from ''Acacia karroo'' is locally traded as gum arabic. Synthetic substitutes for gum arabic are the ‘modified starches’, such as xanthan and gellan, which increasingly replace gum arabic as food hydrocolloids.