Guar gum is extracted from guar plant, a seasonal plant widely grown in eastern countries like India, Pakistan etc. This is a widely used product which is referred in different ways in different languages. For example in German, this is called Guarkernmehl while in French it is popularly known as Gomme de guar, in Spanish it is goma guar and Guar guma in Croatian. The guar gum is extracted from guar seeds obtained from the beans of the plant.
These seeds are subjected to a long process of splitting, sieving, heating, grinding & polishing to obtain fine powder which is white to yellowish white odorless powder often used in applications in food and commercial industries. Depending on the applications and where guar gum powder is used and its properties including active matter content, granulation, viscosity, pH and degree of substitution, this is widely classified into two major categories - food grade and industrial grade guar gum powder.
Food Grade Guar Gum Powder (Edible Guar Gum)
The best applications of guar gum can be seen in food industry where it is used for various applications like addition in frozen food products, baked food products, dairy products, sauce and salad preparations, beverages, pet food etc. In food industry this food grade gum plays an important role as thickening, emulsifying and stabilizing additive. It is added in frozen food preparation to reduce the crystal formation and enhance the shelf life of the products like ice creams, cold drinks etc.
The excellent water binding capability of the substance makes it a useful additive in products like sauces and salad dressings where water content is to be reduced. Guar gum as viscosity control agent is widely used in low calorie beverages, gel creation, glazing & moisture retention to produce the highest grade confectionary. It’s ability to form gels and retaining moisture allows it to act as a thickening, stabilizer and suspending agent for veterinary preparations. Chocolates, ice creams, cold drinks, jellies, jams, bread, biscuits, puddings, baked food items, canned food like fish and meat, ketchups or sauces, noodles and various other food preparations make use of guar gum as a primary content for needs like stabilization, emulsification, thickening, preservation, water retention, enhancement of water soluble fiber content, viscosity control etc.
Industrial Grade Guar Gum Powder
Guar gum powder is used in various industries like textile, paper, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, ceramics, water treatment, oil and gas, paint etc. The industrial grade gum has invaluable applications as thickening, sizing agent, wet-end strength additive, gelling agent and water barrier, flocculation aid, for waste water treatment, emulsifier and binding agent. In oilfield this is used during oil well fracturing, oil well stimulation and mud drilling processes. It is often used in drilling processes to maintain drilling mud viscosities which enable drilling fluids to remove drill waste from deep holes. Widely used as a flocculant, guar gum is used in flotation and for liquid solid separation in metallurgical mining industries.
It is the addition of guar gum that improves erasive and writing properties, bonding strength and hardness of paper. The excellent film forming and thickening properties make it an important ingredient for processes like sizing, finishing and printing of textiles. It can reduce the warp breakage and thereby cuts the wastage and improves the efficiency in textile production. Last but not the least guar gum has got its contribution in cosmetics industry also. It is used as a thickener and protective colloid during processing of skin care products, creams and lotions.
Agrogums is a leading manufacturer and exporter of guar gum products and offers both food grade as well as industrial grade guar gum products including fast hydration guar gum powder, guar splits and guar meal in finest quality.
This article has been written by Biren Patel working at Agro Gums. Agro Gums is a guar and cassia gum manufacturing company offering high quality guar gum powder, fast hydration guar gum powder, cassia powder, guar splits and guar meal to satisfy the production requirements of various industries across the world.
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