Mucilage

From Freepedia

Mucilage is a thick gluey substance, often produced by plants. Mucilage is another term for so called exopolysaccharides. These are sugar substances that cover the outside of, for example, unicellular or filamentous green algae and cyanobacteria. Amongst the green algae especially the group Volvocales are known to produce exopolysaccharides at least in a certain part of their life cycle.

Exopolysaccharides are the most stabilising factor for microaggregates and are widely distributed in soils. Therefore exopolysaccharide-producing "soil algae" play a vital role in the ecology of the world's soils.

Mucilage is edible, but tastes rather bland. It is used in medicine for its demulcent properties.

Mucilage is also a term for an adhesive composed of a solution of a sticky vegetable product -- sometimes the above, but more typically a vegetable gum -- in water, used primarily to seal paper (e.g. postage stamps and envelope flaps)).