The Importance of Sesbania Gum Powder as Sizing Agents

Sesbania gum powder is unquestionably one of the commonest used additive agents in manufacturing sector, especially the textile industry. Sesbania gum and sesbania powder are obtained from the seeds of plant that is found mainly in the continent of Asia and some of Africa. The plant is a short annual shrub growing up to two meters and has seeds called as sesbania aculeate. The importance of sesbania powder as sizing agents cannot be ignored due to its powerful binding properties.

Process of making sesbania gum powder

The final product of sesbania gum powder sizing agents is obtained from a special process. Firstly, the seeds are harvested in the form of pods. They are then sorted with seeds and roasted to separate the husk. They are then split to get endosperm from the germs. The screening helps in getting a creamy powder which is then dissolved in water to get gum powder as a sizing agent.

Properties of the gum powder

There are many properties of the plant that make it an ideal ingredient for textile industries. Here are a few to list –

• The gum obtained from the beans is a pale white cream powder with excellent sizing agent
• The additives are highly soluble in both warm and cold water; therefore, it makes it a great viscosity agent
• Sesbania powder as sizing agents are appropriate as they have wide thermal variations making them flexible to use
• The additives are insoluble in several inorganic agents including ketone, ether, and alcohol. This makes the powder salt and brine resistive.
• The gum powder used as sizing agents have high viscosity which is way stronger than commonly used ingredients. The high pH range lies between 6 and 11
• Being a galactomannan polysaccharide with minimum viscosity of approximately 2300 cps and maximum of 3300 cps, the ingredient proves to having great stabilizing properties
• Sesbania seeds come with impeccable gelling properties due to its 12% moisture content. In addition, it also has pseudoplastic film formation attributes

Sesbania gum powder sizing agents’ applications

The ingredient is used widely used in textile industries for its marvelous biding properties. Here are some highlights –

• Sizing agents are used to make the fabric strong, smooth, and also to tie with dye without spoiling original colors
• The ingredient has powerful brine and salt repellent properties making bleaching and refining process in fibric a lot smoother, convenient, and with quality assurance
• The gum’s natural property is to bind. Thus, it is used as dye thickener in textiles and as a result of it, the dye or stain adheres better to fabric without affecting its texture and shades

In conclusion, the importance of sesbania gum powder sizing agents cannot be ignored and the latest figures show that there is a growing demand of this ingredient in textile industry. More technological revolution is making it more powerful and useful than ever before. To meet the future demands, more and more businesspersons are now getting into gum powder business. This may also spread to boost in harvesting and cultivation of sesbania plants.