The prospective uses of natural gum polysaccharides in various aspects of food, water, energy, biotechnology, environment and medicine industries, have garnered a great deal of attention recently. Natural gums have gained widespread attention due to their availability, low cost, structural diversity and remarkable properties as 'green' bio-based renewable materials. Natural gums are obtainable as natural polysaccharides from various tree genera possessing exceptional properties, including their renewable, biocompatible, biodegradable, and non-toxic nature and their ability to undergo easy chemical modifications. Hydrogels based on natural gums offer several valuable properties when equated to synthetic origin. The fundamental objective of this review is to compile different strategies for the preparation of hydrogels based on several important commercially available gums (arabic, guar, gellan, ghatti, karaya, kondagogu, konjac, locust bean tamarind, tragacanth, tara and xanthan) for the greener synthesis and stabilization of metal/metal oxide NPs, production of electrospun fibers, water purification, drug delivery, tissue engineering, agriculture and for antimicrobial and biomedical applications. (C) 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.