A natural flavor stabilizer, Damar gum, produced from the Damar tree (Shorea javanica) has been approved for use in the US.

An article on the website, Beverage World, outlines how purified Damar gum is a unique, natural flavor stabilizer for the flavor and beverage industries. It is set to be marketed in the US by Nexira, a company that supplies natural ingredients for the food, nutrition and health industries.

The Damar tree has been grown in complex agroforestry systems for its resin by farmers in Krui, Lampung Province, Sumatra, for more than a century. These agroforestry systems now cover some 50,000 hectares. This forest-like land use system provides a wide range of income sources to farmers as well as allowing the conservation of natural forest biodiversity.

Read the full story: Natural flavor stabilizer approved for U.S.

Find out more about work by the World Agroforestry Centre on the Damar agroforestry systems in Indonesia: Damar Agroforest Establishment and Sources of Livelihood