The Gum guaiac is kind of natural resin, it looks like red-brown or greenish brown irregular particles or bulk solids. The crushing surface is glass-like, has many small transparent pieces. Its powder will become dark green gradually in the air. It has the balsam smell and a piquant burning taste. Its melting range is 85 ~ 90 °C. Gum guaiac has the property of being dissolved in ethanol, aether, chloroform and alkaline solution. It is hard soluble in carbon bisulfide and benzene and  not soluble in water.

Preparation: The trunk of guaiacum by the more invasive tree trunk in the West Indies was crushed, and put it in heated ethanol and filtrated it.  After the fractional distillation of ethanol from the solution, gum guaiac was produced.

Uses of Gum guaiac: Gum guaiac is mainly used for anti-oxidants and preservatives of the chewy gum bodying agent, buttermilk and fat. When used as antioxidants for vegetable oil and butter, the amount of gum guaiac shall not exceed 1g/kg.

The toxicity data is as follows: